The Daily Shiur of our Rebbe Rav Eliezer Berland shlit”a on Sunday, the night of 27 Marcheshvan, parashat Toldot, after the Maariv prayer:
So we spoke in the last shiur about the daughter of Yiftach. It’s written [about her] “Yechida – the only [daughter].” About her it’s written, “She did not know a man” (Shoftim 11:39), and there [about Rivka] it’s written “A man did not know her” (Breishit 24:16), that Rivka in her life never went out into the street. They never saw her in her life. And this was the first time that she went out into the street, to draw water. And it was forbidden for any boy to be, any man to be [there] when the girls would go out to draw water, forbidden for the husbands to be in the streets. This is a half-hour before sunset – “at the time of evening” (ibid 11) – it’s written “at the time of evening” – the street was without men. Only the girls go alone to draw water from the well.
Suddenly, they find some strange man, who came from a faraway land. Lavan runs over to him with a sword – what are you doing here?! Here it’s forbidden to men to walk around at such an hour. He straight away wanted to take off his head. He [Eliezer] began to fly in the air. Lavan was shocked. Even though Lavan also knew [how] to fly in the air, however, he became completely confused. “On the camels, on the spring” (ibid 30) – “on the camels, on the spring” – the camels flew in the air, ten camels! Not one camel. Ten camels flew in the air, and he was above the camels. Lavan went completely crazy. He said: “Sorry, sorry. I just came to say hello. I didn’t mean anything. Very well, come home.” He right away put poison for him. And this is what Eliezer said to Avraham: “How can you send me? They’ll poison me!” He [Avraham] said to [Eliezer]: “You will go, the angels will go, whatever they serve you, eat. Don’t pay attention to anything.” The moment that he begins to eat, the plates are switched around, and they didn’t see this! That [one] person eats poison and the other one dies. They didn’t know that the plates were switched around. They thought that he ate the poison. This is already above all sorcery – “Yalla – take Rivka and get lost! Get out of here!”
Then [about] Yiftach’s daughter it’s written “[She] did not know a man” – she never saw a man in her life. Therefore, she merited to reach the level – she was on the level of Yechida [the fifth and highest level of soul], like Yael who is the Kohen Gadol. YaEL [in Hebrew] is the letters of ELiY. Because every modest and holy woman then merits to be the Kohen Gadol. The third Temple will be built, then the women will come again to this world and be Kohenim Gedolim.
Because only Rivka knew that Esav is…that Esav is Esav. Yitzchak was certain that he was a good boy, he’s only the age of fifteen [when he sold] the firstborn [rights]. And the firstborn [rights] are only possible to buy in another 800 years. The Rebbe says, “Take please your vessels” (Breishit 27:3), the Rebbe says in Likutey Moharan (278): “your vessels,” that it’s possible to see all the vessels of the Temple. On the slaughter knife, he says, you see all the vessels.
Therefore, he [Esav] gave forth “a very great and bitter scream” (Breishit 27:34) – he gave forth such a scream; all Hevron began to run…screamed, heard…it must be terrorists attacking here, it must be that terrorists broke into Yitzchak’s house. And everyone is running. What do they see? The chief murderer, the arch-murderer, sitting on the ground, crying like a baby. “He raised…his voice and wept (ibid. 38). He began to cry, three tears he shed. The third one dried out on his cheek, but if he had brought down the third one, there already wouldn’t have been any chance for the Jewish people. There wouldn’t be a third Temple. Because now the Temple will be built; this Chanukah the third Temple will be built, bezrat Hashem, and we should merit to the complete redemption, speedily in our days, Amen!
The shiur begins at timecode 16:04
