Chasidut su Genesi 25:26
וְאַֽחֲרֵי־כֵ֞ן יָצָ֣א אָחִ֗יו וְיָד֤וֹ אֹחֶ֙זֶת֙ בַּעֲקֵ֣ב עֵשָׂ֔ו וַיִּקְרָ֥א שְׁמ֖וֹ יַעֲקֹ֑ב וְיִצְחָ֛ק בֶּן־שִׁשִּׁ֥ים שָׁנָ֖ה בְּלֶ֥דֶת אֹתָֽם׃
Indi uscì suo fratello, colla mano che teneva il calcagno di Esaù, e fu quindi chiamato Giacobbe. Isacco aveva sessant’anni quando nacquero.
Kedushat Levi
Genesis 38,28. “while she was in labor, one of them put out his hand, etc.;” “when he subsequently withdrew his hand, etc.,” “afterwards his brother emerged (completely); he called him Peretz, and he called his brother Zerach.” The name זרח, reflects what we are told in Niddah 30 that as long as an embryo is still within the womb of its mother, a light keeps shining above its head. This light enables the embryo to see from one end of the earth to the other. The Talmud uses this parable to describe that as long as the embryo is as innocent of sin as was Adam before he sinned when he could see all parts of the globe, the embryo is in a similarly sublime condition. When it enters our world upon leaving its mother’s womb, an angel slaps his face so that the infant promptly forgets all it had known thus far, and experiences a new awakening which includes its ability to dedicate itself exclusively to the service of its Creator. It is G’d’s will that man’s spiritual maturity will be attained not as a gift sent from heaven, but after he has undergone trials, so that the accomplishment, when it is attained, is the result of his own efforts though aided by G’d once man has initiated it.
This is what the Zohar 1,77 alludes to as אתערותא דלעילה, quoting Isaiah 62,6 and psalms 83,2 “do not keep silent,” or “you who make mention of Hashem take no rest,” so that there will always be an awakening from below, as a result of which an awakening from above is aroused. At the same time, so that man does not think that everything in our “lower” world is by definition, irreparably evil, and that all the pleasurable experiences on earth are not only transient, but contribute to our becoming victims of the evil urge, G’d maintains a “window of opportunity,” that is open to a higher world by means of which it is possible to sublimate experiences on earth, hallow them and thus make them instruments of our service of the Lord and our coming ever closer to Him. In other words, man has not been placed on earth in order to negate earth, but in order to be G’d’s tool that elevates the material universe to serve the aggrandizement of His name universally. In kabbalistic parlance, the tool G’d holds out to us humans is called “white light,” as opposed to the physical light that we make use of everyday that is perceived by contrast as “black light.” [I have rephrased some of our author’s words in order to make them easier to follow. Ed.]
The author proceeds to explain the description of the twins Peretz and Zerach in terms of the concepts we have just explained. The word פרץ, breaking forth, bursting out of one’s mould, describes that on doing this the infant suddenly sees brilliant light, זרח. A “dark” womb has suddenly been opened with a vista to overpowering light. In light of that experience the newly born is likely to opt for a denial of all that reminds him of his previous dark, opaque existence. When the infant extends his hand into this brilliant world, G’d extended to this newly born (not quite) a glimpse of overpowering light as encouragement, before the soul had a chance to taste all that is wrong and evil on earth. On the other hand, immediately thereafter, in order not to hand man his salvation on a platter so that he cannot claim a share in having personally achieved spiritual maturity, this “hand” was withdrawn and replaced by the “twin” brother, symbolizing that life on earth is a “two edged sword.” The author informs us that the Jewish people, though one people, are on occasion referred to as אחים, brothers, as in psalms 122,9 למען אחי ורעי, “for the sake of my brothers and companions,” so that his allegorical exegesis of why the Torah describes the birth of these twins in such detail appears amply justified.
This is what the Zohar 1,77 alludes to as אתערותא דלעילה, quoting Isaiah 62,6 and psalms 83,2 “do not keep silent,” or “you who make mention of Hashem take no rest,” so that there will always be an awakening from below, as a result of which an awakening from above is aroused. At the same time, so that man does not think that everything in our “lower” world is by definition, irreparably evil, and that all the pleasurable experiences on earth are not only transient, but contribute to our becoming victims of the evil urge, G’d maintains a “window of opportunity,” that is open to a higher world by means of which it is possible to sublimate experiences on earth, hallow them and thus make them instruments of our service of the Lord and our coming ever closer to Him. In other words, man has not been placed on earth in order to negate earth, but in order to be G’d’s tool that elevates the material universe to serve the aggrandizement of His name universally. In kabbalistic parlance, the tool G’d holds out to us humans is called “white light,” as opposed to the physical light that we make use of everyday that is perceived by contrast as “black light.” [I have rephrased some of our author’s words in order to make them easier to follow. Ed.]
The author proceeds to explain the description of the twins Peretz and Zerach in terms of the concepts we have just explained. The word פרץ, breaking forth, bursting out of one’s mould, describes that on doing this the infant suddenly sees brilliant light, זרח. A “dark” womb has suddenly been opened with a vista to overpowering light. In light of that experience the newly born is likely to opt for a denial of all that reminds him of his previous dark, opaque existence. When the infant extends his hand into this brilliant world, G’d extended to this newly born (not quite) a glimpse of overpowering light as encouragement, before the soul had a chance to taste all that is wrong and evil on earth. On the other hand, immediately thereafter, in order not to hand man his salvation on a platter so that he cannot claim a share in having personally achieved spiritual maturity, this “hand” was withdrawn and replaced by the “twin” brother, symbolizing that life on earth is a “two edged sword.” The author informs us that the Jewish people, though one people, are on occasion referred to as אחים, brothers, as in psalms 122,9 למען אחי ורעי, “for the sake of my brothers and companions,” so that his allegorical exegesis of why the Torah describes the birth of these twins in such detail appears amply justified.
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Kedushat Levi
Genesis 25,26. “while his hand was holding on to Esau’s heel.” I assume that the reader is aware that Satan, [also known as the angel of death, Esau himself describing himself as headed for death, Ed.] is considered as the protective guardian of Esau. Yaakov was bent on vanquishing this force, (also known as the poison resulting in death) so that this force would not overwhelm us, his descendants. It is noteworthy that the numerical value of the word עקב (172) is twice the numerical value of the attribute of Justice, אלוהים (86). Symbolically speaking, Yaakov used this numerical superiority of the letters in his name to challenge the supremacy of Justice when not tempered by Mercy.
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