This week's Torah portion - Toldot

This week's Torah portion, Toldot, contains the famous story of Esau's sale of his first-born rights to his brother Jacob for a pot of porridge.

Subsequently, Jacob listens to his mother's advice and dresses up as Esau in order to receive the blessing of the first-born from his father, Isaac. "The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau," Isaac tells his son Jacob when Jacob comes to receive the blessings.

Our Sages comment on this verse that against the "voice of Jacob," Esau has "no hands," that is, he has no power or authority. When the "voice of Jacob" - the voice and sound of Torah learning - is heard, the "hands of Esau" - the threats of the enemies of the Jewish people - have no power over us.

The same holds true in reverse. When the voice of Torah is weakened, G-d forbid, the "hands of Esau" are able to overcome us. This latter alternative has already come to pass with the destruction of Jerusalem and the Holy Temple, as stated by the prophet Jeremiah: "For what reason was the land lost? Because they had forsaken My Torah."

In our times, too, nearly 2,000 years after the destruction of the Holy Temple, it must be emphasized that Jerusalem's existence still depends on the study of Torah. To be sure, we cannot change the facts of the past, but we are able to remove its cause and thus hasten the rebuilding and restoration of Jerusalem.

Our Sages state: "Any generation in whose days the Holy Temple is not rebuilt, it is reckoned against that generation as if it was destroyed in its time." The destruction is thus not simply an historical event that happened in the distant past. Its consequences extend to this very day, and the event, therefore, must be seen as something which is happening even now -- as if the Holy Temple, as it were, were being destroyed this very moment. It follows, then, that it is our duty (and we do have the ability) to rid ourselves of the cause of the destruction and prevent its present recurrence.

How can this be accomplished? Through the study of Torah.

The study of Torah is the antidote to the destruction, and will bring about the restoration of Jerusalem, the rebuilding of the Holy Temple, and the immediate revelation of our Righteous Moshiach!

Adapted from Torat Menachem, Vol. I of the Rebbe