The Role of a Person is to Reveal the Menorah

The Gaon and Tzaddik Rav Eliezer Berland shlit"a, on Motzaei Shabbat Lech Lecha, sharing holy words at a synagogue in Bat Yam.

Yaakov took the precious garments from Esav and hid them

"And Hashem appeared to him in the plains of Mamre, and he was sitting at the entrance of the tent in the heat of the day" (Bereishit 18:1). "Mamre was a rebellious son, he was always rebelling against the words of his teachers, against the mouth of Nimrod, against the mouth of Kush; therefore, Hashem revealed Himself to Avraham specifically at Mamre."

"Cham stole the garments from Noach; he knew where Noach was hiding the garments of the First Man and gave them to his son, Nimrod. With the help of these garments, Nimrod went and conquered the entire world. Anyone who saw the garments of Nimrod would immediately fall down and bow to him, until Yaakov told Esav, 'If you want to overcome Nimrod, take the garments from him.' All of Nimrod's power came from the garments that Noach inherited from the First Man, and Cham stole them from his father and bequeathed them to Kush, and from there to Nimrod. In the end, Yaakov took the garments from Esav, wore them, and hid them; he buried them in Chevron."

"With the garments of the First Man, one can conquer the entire world"

"With the garments of the First Man, one can conquer the entire world. Yaakov advised Esav on how to take the garments from Nimrod, with which he became the ruler over 100 countries, up to Magdiel (Parashat Chayei Sarah). Rashi explains that Magdiel is Rome, and from there he ruled over the entire world. This continued until Yosef HaTzaddik came and waged war with Zepho son of Eliphaz (Eliphaz had six sons: Teman, Omar, Zepho, Gatam, Kenaz, and Amalek; according to the Sefer Yosippon, Eliphaz's son, Zepho, became the king of the Kittim upon their liberation from the yoke of Carthage, see there)."

"From the age of 39 until 110, Zepho son of Eliphaz was in captivity under Yosef. When Yosef passed away, they released him, and he became king over Carthage. Afterward, he conquered Rome. The name of the city of Geneva is named after Zepho, because they changed the name Zepho to Geneva, which is also the month of January, the first according to the gentile calendar. The Abarbanel explains all of this in chapter 35."

"'Lech Lecha' and reveal the Menorah of the Beit HaMikdash"

"Rivkah says, 'Go now to the flock and take for me from there two choice young goats, and I will make them into delicacies for your father, as he loves' (Bereishit 27:9). Hashem says to Avraham, 'Lech Lecha' (Bereishit 12:1), gematria 343. I tell you 343, why do you insist on 100? (The Rav shlit"a answers humorously after asking the public what the gematria of 'Lech Lecha' is). 'Lech Lecha' together with the word 'Avraham' is gematria 343 = 7*7*7."

"Hashem says to Avraham, 'Lech Lecha' and reveal the Menorah of the Beit HaMikdash; light the Menorah, because with Sarah the candle did not go out, with Rachel the candle did not go out, with Leah the candle did not go out. Serach bat Asher is Sarah, Rachel, and Chana. Thus it is written in Zechariah, 'And he said to me, "What do you see?" And I said, "I see, and behold, a Menorah of gold, all of it, with its bowl on top of it, and its seven lamps upon it—seven and seven pipes to the lamps that are on top of it"' (Zechariah 4:2). 'For behold, the stone that I have placed before Joshua—upon one stone, seven eyes' (Zechariah 3:9); this is the golden Menorah that Avraham Avinu revealed. 7*7*7 = 343, the gematria of 'Avraham Lech Lecha'. For the entire role of man is to reveal the Menorah; that is the whole essence of Parashat Vayera."