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Rome, Western Civilization and us
d"a
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And Yaakov was left alone and a “man” wrestled with him until the break of dawn. And he
saw that he could not prevail against him, and he touched the socket of his hip, and the
socket of his hip became dislocated as he wrestled with him. And he (the “man”) said: “Let
me go for the dawn is breaking,” but he (Yaakov) said: “I will not send you unless you bless
me”.
Bereishis 32:26-28
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“and a 'man' wrestled with him”- this is the ministering angel of Edom.
“until the break of dawn” meaning until the break of Israel’s dawn, i.e. the salvation of
Israel, which is likened to dawn, considering that the Exile is likened to night.
[This means that] the nations of the world and the wicked Edomite kingdom wrestle with
Israel to mislead them for the way of Hashem.
Midrash Lekach Tov
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Said Rabbi Eliezer: “He remained(behind) over small jars. From here we learn that for the
righteous their possessions are more dear to them than their own bodies.”
Talmud, Chulin 91a
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Just as regarding Hashem it says “He will be exalted alone on that day”, so Yaakov “was left
alone”
Midrash, Bereishis Rabba
Jewish history, in the light of Chassidus
2
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And the children struggled within her, and she said: “If so, why am I (like this)?” and she
went to enquire of Hashem.
And Hashem said to her: “Two nations are in your womb, two kingdoms will separate from
your innards, one kingdom will become mightier than the other kingdom, and the
elder will serve the younger.”
Bereishis 25:22, 23
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And the first one emerged ruddy; he was completely like a coat of hair, and they named
him Eisav.
And the youths grew up and Eisav was a man who understood hunting, a man of the
field, whereas Yaakov was an innocent man, dwelling in tents.
Bereishis 25:25, 27
Source text B3:
When one rises, the other falls
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Rashi on Bereishis 25:23
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Said Rabbi Yitzchak: “At the time that King Shlomo married the daughter of Pharaoh,
Gavriel descended and planted a reed in the Mediterranean, and a sandbank formed upon
which the great city of Rome was built.”
Talmud, Sanhedrin 21b
Jewish history, in the light of Chassidus
3
Source Text C1:
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Go, please, to the flock and take for me from there two good kids, and I will make them
tasty foods for your father, as he loves.
¥Bereishis 27:9
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And Yaakov said to Rivka, his mother: “Behold, Eisav, my brother is a hairy man, while I am
a smooth man”.
Bereishis 27:11
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And Aharon shall place lots upon the two he-goats, one lot “for Hashem” and the other “for
Azazel”.
Vayikra 16:8
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The Sages taught: “He shall take two he-goats”.
Goats implies a minimum of two, why does the Torah say (two)? To teach us that they must
be identical.
Talmud Bavli, Yoma 62a
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And the he goat upon which the lot “for Azazel” came up, shall be made to stand alive before
Hashem, for atonement upon it and to send it away to Azazel, to the desert.
Vayikra 16:10
Jewish history, in the light of Chassidus
4
Source Text D4:
mi®¦nC̈`¨ n§ m†¦li ¥̀ zŸx¬ Ÿr ld¤ Ÿ`½ l̈ Ædq¤ k§ n¦ z̈i³¦Ur̈e§
And you shall make a covering for the tent of ram skins dyed red
Shemos 26:14
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Eleven days' journey from Chorev, by way of Mount Seir to Kadesh Barnea
Devarim 1:2
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And the flocks came into heat by the rods, and the animals bore ringed, spotted, and striped
[young]
Bereishis 30:39
speckled Heb. cŸwp̈, spotted with small patches like dots, poynture in Old French, speckled.
spotted Heb. `elḧ, an expression of patches, wide spots.
ringed Unusual in the place where they are bound. Those are the joints of their forelegs and hind legs.
Rashi
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Hashem created worlds and destroyed them
Midrash Bereishis Rabbah 9:2
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Bereishis 36:37-39
Jewish history, in the light of Chassidus
5
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There was no king in Edom
I Melachim 22:48
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Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai said: “All that they established was only for themselves- They
established markets to place harlots in them; bathhouses to groom themselves; bridges to
collect tolls...”
Talmud, Shabbos 33b
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Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: “This teaches us that their feet raised dust to the Divine
Throne of Glory”
Talmud, Chulin 91a
Reference I:
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And I have acquired oxen and donkeys, flocks, manservants, and maidservants,
Bereishis 32:6
Reference II:
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Jewish history, in the light of Chassidus
6
Source Text F3:
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And he went ahead of them and prostrated himself to the ground seven times, until he came
close to his brother.
And Eisav ran toward him and embraced him, and he fell on his neck and kissed him, and
they wept.
Bereishis 33:3-4
Source Text F4:
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:d xi«
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Now, let my master go ahead before his servant, and I will move [at] my own slow pace,
according to the pace of the work that is before me and according to the pace of the children,
until I come to my master, to Seir."
Bereishis 33:14
Source Text F5:
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For then I will convert the peoples to a pure language that all of them call in the name of
Hashem, to worship Him of one accord
Tzephaniah 3:9
Appendix:
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¥ miz¦ n¥ d© oiA¥ cŸnr
£ i©e©"
Talmud, Shabbos 89a
Jewish history, in the light of Chassidus