Dvar Torah for Parshat Toledot

Based on Likutey Moharan I, 1

"...Rivkah became pregnant and the children clashed within her... [Rivkah] asked, "Why is this happening to me?" She went to seek God's word. God's answer was, "Two nations are in your womb. Two governments will separate from within you. The upper hand will go from one... to the other. The greater will serve the younger."

Genesis 25:21-23

"A Jew must constantly look for the Godly seikhel (intellect) in each thing, attach himself to it and use it to draw himself closer to God... But he can do this only if he first accepts God as his king."

Likutey Moharan I, 1

Each of us is involved in a constant struggle, the battle between the yeitzer tov (good inclination) and the yeitzer hara (evil inclination). This inner battle is played out in the world at large as the war that began more that 3700 years ago, when our patriarch Yaakov and his evil twin Esav were still in the womb. We know and believe and anxiously await the outcome: the triumph of the Kingdom of Holiness, all that is pure and holy and intrinsic to authentic Jewish living, over each and every one of the forces that oppose all that we stand for.

Can we just sit back and wait for the final act? Are we automatically in the Jewish "army"? And what of our personal struggle? Rebbe Nachman teaches us not to be passive in matters spiritual. It's not enough to hope for the best - you have to do something to ensure that the side of holiness, which the Patriarch Yaakov established, emerges victorious. What?

The Rebbe says that you have to study Torah b'koach, with strength. This means studying with enthusiasm, out loud and even when it's difficult. (How much should you study? There is no minimum or maximum. Do the best you can.) When you study Torah with the intention to be a better Jew, which is accepting God as your king, you better understand how each thing can be used to come closer to God. By turning away from those things and situations which you recognize as detrimental to your spiritual well-being and making positive use of that which enhances it, you help the Kingdom of Holiness come that much closer to its ultimate victory. And you're an instant winner!

Agutn Shabbos!
Shabbat Shalom!