ToledotArtscroll p.124 | Haftarah p.1137Hertz p.93 | Haftarah p.102Soncino p.140 | Haftarah p.159

Volume 32No. 10

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In loving memory of Harav Yisrael ben Eliyahu

“God appeared to [Yitzchak] and said,… ‘I will increase your offspring like the stars of the heavens;and will give to your offspring all these lands; and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed throughyour offspring” (Bereishit 26:2-4).

30 November 2019 2 Kislev 5780

Shabbat ends London 4.49pmJerusalem 5.14pm

Sidrah Summary: Toledot

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1st Aliya (Kohen) – Bereishit 25:19-26:5

Yitzchak, aged 60, prays for his wife Rivkah tohave a child. Rivkah conceives twins and is toldprophetically that the two children will father twoseparate nations. Esav is born first, red and hairy.Yaakov then emerges, holding on to Esav’s heel.As they grow up, Esav becomes a hunter,whereas Yaakov dwells in tents of Torah study(Rashi). Yitzchak loves Esav, whereas Rivkahprefers Yaakov (see p.3 article). One day Yaakovprepares a red lentil stew. Esav returnsexhausted from the fields, demanding thatYaakov give him some of the stew. Yaakovagrees, but in return for Esav selling the first-bornrights to him. Esav agrees, taking an oath inreturn for the food.

Famine hits the Land of Cana’an (later Israel).God tells Yitzchak not to go down to Egypt forfood and assures him that he will be a forefatherof a great nation.

Point to Consider: Why did God insist onYitzchak not leaving the Land? (see Rashi to 26:2)

2nd Aliya (Levi) – 26:6-12

Yitzchak lives amongst the Plishtim (Philistines)in Gerar. Afraid to reveal that Rivkah is his wife,lest harm befall them from jealous men, Yitzchaktells the locals that she is his sister. However, theruler Avimelech discovers that they are actuallymarried. He accuses Yitzchak of deceiving him,but warns the people not to harm Yitzchak andRivkah. Yitzchak sows the land and becomesvery prosperous.

3rd Aliya (Shlishi) – 26:13-22

The Plishtim, jealous of Yitzchak’s prosperity,stop up his wells. Yitzchak carries on diggingwells; the arguments eventually end.

4th Aliya (Revi’i) – 26:23-29

Yitzchak moves to Beersheva. God appears tohim in the night, telling him that He will bless him.Yitzchak builds an altar. Avimelech brings an

entourage from Gerar, offering Yitzchak a newpeace treaty.

5th Aliya (Chamishi) – 26:30-27:27

Yitzchak agrees to the peace proposal. Esavmarries two Hittite women. This pains hisparents, as both women worship idols (Rashi).The ageing Yitzchak, almost blind, asks Esav togo and hunt some game for him to eat, afterwhich he will bless Esav. Rivkah overhears andinstructs the reluctant Yaakov to go to Yitzchakdisguised as Esav, with two cooked goats, so asto receive the blessings instead of Esav.

Question: What were the names of Esav’swives? (26:34) Answer on bottom of page 6.

6th Aliya (Shishi) – 27:28-28:4

Rivkah’s plan is successful; Yaakov receives theblessings. Esav returns from the field, realiseswhat has happened and lets out a loud and bittercry. Yitzchak also gives Esav a blessing, but itincludes his future subservience to Yaakov. Esav plans to kill Yaakov. Rivkah realises this,and tells Yaakov to escape to her brother Lavan in Charan. Yitzchak instructs Yaakov tomarry one of Lavan’s daughters. Before Yitzchaksends Yaakov away, he blesses him with the blessing first bestowed upon Avraham,including, specifically, the blessing of the Landof Israel. From this we can see that Yitzchak hadalways intended that the real legacy was to go toYaakov, not Esav.

7th Aliya (Shevi’i) – 28:5-9

Yaakov sets off to Charan. Esav marries a thirdwife, Machalat, the daughter of his uncleYishmael.

Haftarah

The prophet Malachi speaks of God’s love forYaakov and His rejection of Esav. However,Yaakov’s nation has to justify God’s favour; theprophet rebukes them for being lax andinsincere in their Temple service.

The section of our sidrawhich describes how Yaakovdisguised himself as hisolder, hunter brother Esav in order to receive the‘firstborn’ blessings fromtheir father Yitzchak hasengaged Jewish scholarsover the centuries.

Whilst much attention is paid to Yaakov’s role,the reaction of Yitzchak, after he realises whathas happened, also requires explanation.

The relevant passage in the Torah states:

When Yitzchak had finished blessingYaakov and Yaakov had just left thepresence of Yitzchak his father, Esav his brother came from his hunt….Yitzchak his father said to him, ‘who areyou?’ He said, ‘I am your first-born, Esav’.Yitzchak was seized with an extremelygreat trembling…. (Bereishit 27:30, 32)

The Midrash Tanchuma (a collection of rabbinicteachings collated initially in the 5th century CE),comments:

When Esav entered, Gehinnam (hell)opened beneath him (Yitzchak); therefore,Yitzchak was seized with an extremelygreat trembling. (Tanchuma, Toledot 11)

The influential Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch(1808-1888), one of the great leaders of GermanJewry, makes a fascinating observation whenanalysing Yitzchak’s reaction and the teachingof the Midrash:

The discovery of the deception wasunavoidable. Even if the carrying out ofthe masquerade were to be successful,with Esav’s return, everything wasinevitably bound to be disclosed – Rivkamust have known this full well. And

altogether, how crude was the wholecomedy, a couple of goat-skins, what butthe most absolute naivety could be takenin by that! What could her intention havebeen by playing such a comedy! Whatelse but just the comedy itself! Only thus,if just the inevitable discovery was whatwas beforehand reckoned on…. (RabbiS.R. Hirsch, ad loc.)

Rabbi Hirsch’s novel take on the story continueswith a remarkable explanation of our Midrash:

If a Yaakov, an ish tam (simple man) canso easily masquerade as a gibor tzayid(powerful hunter), how much more easilycan an Esav masquerade as an ish tam tohim! …. As soon as Yitzchak realised thetrick that had been played upon him, hesaw – as our Sages put it – Gehinnamyawning at his feet; he saw how all his lifehe had allowed himself to be deceived.(ibid.)

Yitzchak’s trembling was the realisation that hehad nearly ruined his life’s achievements byblessing the wrong son. Esav had duped him foryears by masquerading as a righteous man.Only when Yaakov dressed as Esav, wasYitzchak finally able to see the truth.

3In memory of Harav Yitzchak Yoel ben Shlomo Halevi

Quaking on the Spot by Rabbi Dr Harvey Belovski, Golders Green Synagogue

4In memory of Chaim ben Moshe Bentzion

Jewish Contemporary Ethics Part 47: Artificial Intelligence 4– Artificial General Intelligence 1 by Rabbi Dr Moshe Freedman, New West End Synagogue

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is abroad term which describescomputer programmes thatcan respond appropriately bylearning from the informationthey receive and makedecisions without usingexplicit, pre-programmed

instructions. Unlike humans who naturally learnand perform a vast range of cognitive abilities,current AI technology is limited to performingspecific tasks such as data analysis, predictingstrategic moves or detecting market trends.

Yet there is a concerted push to extend the ability of AI to be able to tackle a broader, morecomprehensive range of tasks, like humans.While currently the stuff of science fiction,Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) could lead tothe development of human-like androids in the future. Would the development of AGIchallenge conventional meanings of what itmeans to be human?

To address these questions from a Jewishperspective, many have cited the concept of thegolem – a mysterious humanoid created from clayor earth and animated with various incantations.The root of the word golem means ‘raw material’(Tehillim 139:16) or ‘an uncultivated person’(Mishnah Pirkei Avot 5:6). The Talmudic sageRava created a golem and sent it to his colleagueRebbi Zeira, who tried to speak with it. When thegolem was unable to respond, he declared that it was a creation of man and destroyed it(Sanhedrin 65b).

Citing this Gemara, Rabbi Tzvi Hirsch Ashkenazi(d. 1718) was doubtful as to whether the golemcould count for a minyan since it was not born toa human mother and that it was not consideredmurder for Rabbi Zeira to destroy it. He adds thatthe noted kabbalist, Rabbi Moshe Cordovero (d. 1570) ruled that the golem ‘has no soul or spiritand is merely animated’ (Chacham Tzvi 93). His

son, Rabbi Yaakov Emden (d. 1776) declaredunequivocally that a golem has less legalcompetence than a child, describing it as ‘ananimal in human form’ (Teshuvot Yaavetz 2:82).

One of Rabbi Emden’s key arguments is thatsince the golem can’t speak, it has no soul, which accords with Rabbi Moshe ben Nachman(d. 1270) who associates the potential for speechwith having a neshama – a human soul (Rambanon Bereishit 2:7). Yet many current AI algorithmssimulate speech. Could a speaking AGI androidbe considered human?

Rabbi Shlomo Wolbe (d. 2005) writes that it is thehuman soul itself that establishes the nature ofhuman communication. He compares speech toa violin and writes, “The beautiful sound of theviolin is not produced by the strings alone, butfrom the echo produced by the box upon whichthose strings are strung. So too, the tone ofspeech does not come from the words alone, but from the soul, which makes a uniqueimpression on the words (Alei Shur 2:4 p. 35).

From a Jewish perspective, it seems that, shouldAGI ever be achieved, it is doubtful that it wouldbe considered ‘alive’ in the sense that a human isalive. The next article in this series will addressthe other fundamental question of AGI: what isthe deeper motive for humans striving to createever more life-like replicas of themselves?

5In memory of Harav Yisrael ben Uriah

Opening the era of the Prophets: Sefer Yehoshua (the Bookof Joshua) – Chapter 2by Hannah Reuben, US Living & Learning Project Executive

Chapter overview

At the end of chapter 1,Yehoshua ordered thepeople to prepare to enterthe Land. The continuationof these preparations, inchapter 2, focused on the

dispatch of spies, meragelim, to Yericho(Jericho). The text does not give the names ofthe spies, but the Midrash (Bemidbar Raba, ch.16) identifies them as Pinchas and Calev. Thelatter, along with Yehoshua, was the only spy tobring back a positive report from the disastrousspying venture 38 years earlier. This is describedin parashat Shelach Lecha. This chapter is readas the Haftarah for Shelach Lecha.

Pinchas and Calev entered the city towardsevening and headed for the tavern which was run by Rachav, situated by the city wall. Theirmission, presence and whereabouts were quickly communicated to the king of Yericho,who sent officers to arrest the spies.

At this juncture, Rachav made a significant,fateful decision. Perhaps anticipating the arrivalof the officers, she hid the spies on her roof. Sheconfirmed the spies’ arrival to the officers butadded that the spies had fled the city as nightwas falling, and urged the officers to chase afterthem. The officers set out in hot pursuit.

When the coast was clear, Rachav explainedherself to the spies. She said that she knew thatGod had helped Bnei Yisrael with miracles suchas the splitting of the sea and the conquest oflands east of the Jordan and had given the Landto Bnei Yisrael. The local population, she said,was in fear of Bnei Yisrael’s arrival.

In return for shielding the spies, Rachav askedthat she and her family be spared when Yerichowas subsequently attacked. The spies agreed oncondition that she would not betray them andwould hang a scarlet rope from her window toidentify her home.

The spies were then lowered down the outer side of the city wall. They escaped to nearbymountains for three days before they returned,giving Yehoshua a positive report. Unlike theoriginal spies, they returned with an enthusiasticreport that God had given Bnei Yisrael the Land.

Why did Yehoshua dispatch these spies?

(ch. 2 v. 1)

God’s promises to give Bnei Yisrael the Land andYehoshua’s own experiences 38 years earliermight suggest that sending spies again was arisky strategy.

Radak (Rabbi David Kimche, 1160-1235)explained that Yehoshua was certain thatPinchas and Calev were of a much higher calibrethan the original spies. As the end of the chaptershows, Pinchas and Calev reported directly toYehoshua, rather than to the rest of the people,as the original spies had done. Pinchas andCalev had carried out their mission with belief in God’s promises to Bnei Yisrael, and this wouldfortify the people upon their arrival in the Land of Israel.

Nonetheless, Yehoshua kept their mission asecret from the rest of Bnei Yisrael to avoid any panic, given the episode of the earlier spies.And perhaps so that, once their secret missionand positive report were revealed, the peoplewould proceed with confidence.

6In memory of Avraham ben Yehoshua

Answer: Yehudit and Bas’mat

Shefford by Dr Judith Grunfeld l’’ z

Dr Judith Grunfeld was the headmistress of theJewish Secondary School in Stamford Hill in 1939.In this third extract from her book, Dr Grunfelddescribes the school’s preparations forevacuation to the countryside in September 1939.

Our children were lined up in the playground, allharnessed with satchels, rain coats andprovisions, bags and shoes dangling from theirbacks. As we examined them and checked andmade lists and copied them again, we tried tosmile hopefully at each other – perhaps it willnever materialise. Again and again we peepedinto the office where the secretary had beeninstructed to listen to the wireless incessantly tocatch any message meant for the schools.Perhaps those fateful words will never bespoken, “Pied Piper today” or “Pied Pipertomorrow” – the code chosen to convey thecamouflaged message that the procession readyin the playground of the schools – still a merekind of school exercise – was to change itscharacter, and depart in grim reality.

“Pied Piper”, those were the words we wereafraid to hear. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesdaypassed. Every day saw us with more and morechildren who joined our party, for in the year 1939many families with numerous children had justarrived in London from the continent. They wererefuges who had come at zero hour and most ofthem were still in the first confusion of theirchange of circumstances, unsettled andhomeless. In this blast of war-scare and turmoilthey heard the shooting tale that the JewishSchool was evacuating all children en bloc intosafety. And so every day another batch ofchildren arrived in our office, anxious to beevacuated into safety under the governmentscheme and at the same time to be able toshelter under the protecting arrangements of thisOrthodox, well-organised school.

So fathers and mothers brought their children infours, in fives and in sixes and sevens. Thoseparents had recently left Germany or Austria and

had already manifested their trust in God. Forthem, luggage had its essentials, Tallis andTefillin, Siddur and Sabbath candles; all the restthat might go into their suitcase was to them of asecondary nature. They all came to the school,little ones with shining eyes, clutching the handsof their elder brothers or sisters. The numbersgrew rapidly and the orders and announcements,made in the playground for the benefit of thepupils had to be repeated in German becausethere were so many who did not understand anyEnglish at all.

By Wednesday afternoon the number of childrenhad risen to 450, with about forty teachers andvolunteer helpers ready to go, and yet everyonewas still hopeful that all this would remain a game only. Some were optimistic and lighthearted, some tight-lipped and depressed byforeboding … On Thursday afternoon we wereonce more checking the labels and the tagswhen we stepped into the office for a quick cupof tea, and it was then that we heard the fatefulwords, “Pied Piper tomorrow” … Tomorrow was a Friday. In the morning, at the early hour of 6am, they were all ready – 450 children, mostlybetween the ages of eight and fourteen … Twoboys at the head of the procession carried theschool’s Sifrei Torah in their arms with care,reverence and pride.

Reproduced with permission.