Torah Thoughts

In parsha Vaishlach, Yaakov returns home after working for Laban for 20 years. Upon his entry into the Holy Land, he is faced by his brother Eisav accompanied by 400 men. וַיָּשֻׁ֙בוּ֙ הַמַּלְאָכִ֔ים אֶֽל־יַעֲקֹ֖ב לֵאמֹ֑ר בָּ֤אנוּ אֶל־אָחִ֙יךָ֙ אֶל־עֵשָׂ֔ו וְגַם֙ הֹלֵ֣ךְ לִקְרָֽאתְךָ֔ וְאַרְבַּע־מֵא֥וֹת אִ֖ישׁ עִמּֽוֹ׃   The messengers returned to Yaakov saying, We came to your brother, to Eisav, and he is also coming to meet you; and there are four hundred אַרְבַּע־מֵא֥וֹת men with him.   What's interesting about the number 400 is that it is the gematria of the Hebrew letter tav , which in the Ashuri script that is currently used to write the scrolls of Torah is written as  ת According to the Talmud, Ezra was the first to mandate that the scrolls of Torah be written in the Ashuri script rather than in the Paleo-Hebrew alphabet used formerly. According to the Talmud, prior to Ezra the scrolls of Torah had been written in Paleo-Hebrew ( Ktav Ivri ), and Ezra switched...

In parsha Vaishlach, Yaakov returns home after working for Laban for 20 years. Upon his entry into the Holy Land, he is faced by his brother Eisav accompanied by 400 men. Yaakov sends gifts to Eisav in order to mollify his (Eisav's) anger. When they finally meet, there is this curious verbal exchange between them: וַיֹּ֕אמֶר מִ֥י לְךָ֛ כָּל־הַמַּחֲנֶ֥ה הַזֶּ֖ה אֲשֶׁ֣ר פָּגָ֑שְׁתִּי וַיֹּ֕אמֶר לִמְצֹא־חֵ֖ן בְּעֵינֵ֥י אֲדֹנִֽי׃ He [Eisav] said, What do you have to do with that whole camp that approached me? He [Yaakov] said, It was to find favor in the eyes of my master. (Gen 33:8) וַיֹּ֥אמֶר עֵשָׂ֖ו יֶשׁ־לִ֣י רָ֑ב אָחִ֕י יְהִ֥י לְךָ֖ אֲשֶׁר־לָֽךְ׃ Eisav said, I have much . My brother, let what you have be yours (Gen 33:9)   The exact expression that Eisav used is יֶשׁ־לִ֣י רָ֑ב   "yesh li rav " - I have much . Eisav tries to persuade Yaakov to keep the gifts to himself. Upon hearing this, Yaakov does not give up, and responds: קַח־נָ֤א אֶת־בִּרְכָתִי֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר הֻבָ֣את לָ֔ך...

In Devarim parsha Eikev we read (Deuteronomy 8:9) אֶ֗רֶץ אֲשֶׁ֨ר לֹ֤א בְמִסְכֵּנֻת֙ תֹּֽאכַל־בָּ֣הּ לֶ֔חֶם לֹֽא־תֶחְסַ֥ר כֹּ֖ל בָּ֑הּ אֶ֚רֶץ אֲשֶׁ֣ר אֲבָנֶ֣יהָ בַרְזֶ֔ל וּמֵהֲרָרֶ֖יהָ תַּחְצֹ֥ב נְחֹֽשֶׁת׃   - A land where not in scarcity shall you eat bread. You shall lack nothing in it; a land whose stones are iron and from whose mountains you shall hew copper.    We may surmise that eating of the bread is related to iron, because plows which till the land are made of iron, and therefore with the help of those plows the land will be well-prepared for sowing and growing wheat from which bread is made. But that leaves us with the second pairing in that pasuk , namely that lacking nothing must be somehow related to the mountains of copper. It is as if the Torah is saying that the "lacking nothing" will be assured thanks to the "mountains of copper". So this begs the question: what does copper have to do with satisfying one's desires, so much so that one feels like...