“No man will remain from the whole house of Esav”
An excerpt of Rav Eliezer Berland’s words from the recent gathering at Gan Yavneh
“The house of Yaakov will be fire, the house of Yosef a flame, and the house of Esav for straw; and they will ignite them and devour them. There will be no survivor to the house of Esav, for Hashem has spoken.” (Ovadia, 1:18)
So now, we’re going to liquidate the house of Esav, this very day is the day that we’re going to put an end to the house of Esav, no man will remain from the whole of the house of Esav.
Adam HaRishon wasn’t married for 130 years. There were 130 years where he separated from his wife, and so there were many sparks created that became ISIS – all of them were created then.
All the arguments between Esav and Yaakov were about Jerusalem
The house of Esav is Amalek. All the Nazis were [from] the house of Esav. For 130 years, only Nazis were created. There still wasn’t Torah then, until Lamech came and killed Cain….Cain lived for 130 years. Cain’s mission was to rectify his father and mother’s sin – “I have acquired (kaniti) a man with Hashem” (Bereishit 4:1)
All the machloket (argument, strife) between Esav and Yaakov was only about Jerusalem, everyone’s fighting about Jerusalem, also Esav and Yaakov were fighting about Jerusalem when they were still in [their mother’s] womb.
This one was giving that one a slap, and the other one was giving a slap, and everything was over Jerusalem. I saw in the Midrash that the war between Esav and Yaakov was over who would rule in Jerusalem. How do we learn this out?
The whole war was about who would rule in Jerusalem
Here, in [parshat] Vayishlach (32:31): “Face to face” . He saw Hashem “face to face”. “I have plenty, my brother” – in gematria this equals 596, which is the gematria of Jerusalem. The whole war between Yaakov and Esav was about who would rule in Jerusalem, and who would merit to [have] Jerusalem.
It’s the same thing today, when the whole world is also fighting over Jerusalem, and the whole world wants Jerusalem. “Speak to the heart of Jerusalem.”
A person who lives in Jerusalem has a heart. A person who doesn’t live in Jerusalem doesn’t have a heart. “Speak to the heart of Jerusalem” (Isaiah 40:2), the heart of Jerusalem. Only someone who lives in Jerusalem has a heart. And thus this is: “The house of Yaakov will be fire, the house of Yosef a flame” (Ovadia 1:18)
Joseph danced for 22 years. He danced alone, he didn’t have anyone else to dance with. And also when he became a king, he continued to dance. Every place that Yaakov went to, he used to dance, he didn’t stop dancing. Yosef only used to dance.
Wherever we go, we need to see Hashem in our lives
[He was] “successful”. The Midrash says, what does it mean he was “successful”? He was a “dancing man”, all the time, all he did was dance and sing, even when he was in the pit, under the ground….
Wherever a person goes, he needs to see Hashem, wherever he goes, face to face. “I saw Elokim face to face.” (Vayishlach 32:31) Peniel – for I have seen Hashem face to face. A person needs to see Hashem face to face wherever he finds himself, wherever he lives, in Bavel (Babylonia), in Eretz Yisrael, in Amsterdam – it makes no difference.
He needs to see Hashem face to face in every place.
