Torah. The Pentateuch of Moses in weekly chapters, in poetic form

Weekly chapter: Hayei Sarah #5

And at one hundred and twenty-seven years of age, Sarah was as beautiful as if she had been twenty,
and sinless, as if she were only seven years old.
But her hour was come, Sarah passed away, and Abraham became sad,
Abraham bought land for 400 pieces of silver and buried Sarah, fulfilling his vow.

Life is given to people to do a certain amount of good.
Actions also illuminate the life of man from the day of his birth,
The time of fulfilment of the commandments is the quintessence of the essence of being!
The influence of Sarah’s holiness on people will be felt for many generations to come…

G-d challenged Avraham to marry off his son Yitzhak in a proper manner,
Avraham sent a servant to look for a bride for his son to Haran, to his brother,
The servant found a bride for Yitzhak successfully, as it happens when G-d provides,
And as a consolation to Yitzhak for the death of his mother, Rivka became his favourite wife.

It’s about the marriage between Yitzhak and Rivka,
And it teaches an important and instructive lesson to all Jews, and not only.
It’s very important to choose a life partner,
The consequences of making a mistake here are extremely high.

Abraham married a maid, and she bore him sons,
Not seeing any worthy among them, Abraham gives them a share and removes them from the house.
These sons became the ancestors of the nations of different branches,
But Avraham declares Yitzhak his sole heir.

G-d blessed Yitzhak and His promises to Avraham,
for Yitzhak and his descendants He preserved and extended.
Avraham died at the age of one hundred and seventy-five and after the rite of parting,
He rested in peace in the cave of Machpelah in Hebron beside his wife Sarah.

The Book of Being

Weekly Chapter: Toldot No. 6

Yitzchak married Rivka and only twenty years later G-d gave them sons,
Rivka had a vision that she was having twins – the progenitors of the two nations are at enmity.
The elder son Esav was Yitzhak’s favourite, the younger son Yaakov was the mother’s favourite,
But a choice had to be made, the people of Israel needed a single leader.

Esav grew up to be a ‘skilful hunter’ and a skilful farmer,
Ya’akov, ‘a man of integrity’, devoted all his time to study in the tents.
According to the law of the time, Esav was the owner of the primogeniture status,
But G-d saw fit to make Yaakov the heir apparent.

When Esav was hungry, he sold his primogeniture to Yaakov for a pot of lentil soup,
Rivka put her husband’s vigilance to sleep, and Yitzhak blessed Yaakov for his dominion.
Esau, having learnt, was grieved and did not recognise his younger brother’s superiority over him,
Yaakov, avoiding his brother’s revenge, left home and went to Haran to Rivka’s brother.

All Yitzchak could do for the weeping Esav was to bless him,
That the eldest son would live by his sword and every time,
Yaakov would lose his father’s favour before Esav,
Esav’s anger at his younger brother Ya’akov over the loss of his birthright never abated.

The Book of Being

Weekly chapter: Vaetze #7

On his way to Haran, Ya’akov stopped for the night at one place,
G-d appeared to him and promised his descendants the land on which he was reclining.
Ya’akov set up a stone as an altar and monument and vowed,
To erect on this place G-d’s House, the Temple, a pedestal for G-d.

Rivka’s brother Lavan gave away his daughters to Yaakov: Leah and Rachel, the ‘reward’ from his uncle.
Leah gave birth to Reuven, Shimon, Levi, Yehudah, Issachar, Zevulun. Yosef gives birth to Rachel,
The maids Bilgah and Zilpah legitimately give birth to Dan, Naftali, Asher and Gad.
Yaakov and his family secretly depart for the Holy Land – to fulfil G-d’s purpose.

Lavan and his posse sets off in pursuit of Yaakov and his family is set upon,
G-d appears to Lavan in a dream and warns him not to do any harm to Yaakov.
Lavan and Yaakov meet on the hill of Gal-Ed and make a peace agreement,
Finally, Ya’akov goes to Knaan, where a pair of angels has been waiting for him for a long time.

The Book of Being

Weekly chapter: Vaishlah #8

Yaakov sends messenger angels to his brother Esav in hopes of reconciliation,
Esav is outraged. Yaakov prepares for battle, but prays and sends gifts to his brother.
Fighting Esav’s patron angel, Yaakov has the strength to overpower him,
The angel names Yaakov Yisrael[1 - ‘Overpowered by G-d.]. The brothers reconciled, but have seen each other ever since.

Yaakov and his numerous family members buy a plot of land near the city of Shechem,
The son of the ruler of that city captures and rapes Dina, Yaakov’s daughter.
Her brothers Shimon and Levin kill all the men in Shechem and a problem arises,
Yaakov’s family goes to Yitzchak’s father in Havron, from Shechem from revenge rather away.

On the way, Rachel gives birth to a son Binyamin and dies in childbirth,
The twelve heads of the tribes of Israel are now complete.
Reuven is denied the right of primogeniture because of his failure to honour the traditions of the people,
Yitzchak died at the age of 180, and Yaakov and his sons gave him a proper burial.

The Book of Being

Weekly chapter: Vaeshev #9

Out of jealousy, brothers Shimon and Levi sell Yosef into Egyptian slavery,
lying to his father that his brother was attacked and devoured by a wild beast.