 | How Can We Look But See Nothing?
How were we so blinded once again? How is it we are able to look but see nothing?
We know that the Agranat Report after the Yom Kippur War found the intelligence at fault – they could not see the lurking dangers. They became blinded by their own perception. And so too, 50 years later. We looked, but once again we couldn't see.
The answer is in this week's parasha – the blindness of Yitzchak, which wasn't just a physical blindness, but also a blindness to Eisav's shortcomings. We sometimes become entrapped by the way we view people and the world. All of us are, in some way, blind. Only Hashem enlightens us. | | | Global Women's Tefillah Event
Last Thursday, World Mizrachi hosted a Global Women's Event focused on Unity, Tefillah, and Song.
The in-person event took place in Efrat in partnership with Mizrachi Canada and the Efrat Foundation, and included a Challah Make together with celebrity chef Jamie Geller, words of chizuk from Rabbanit Shani Taragin and Rabbanit Yemima Mizrachi, and beautiful singing from Ricka Razel.
The event was an astounding success bringing women together from all over the world with hundreds more joining on Zoom, including all the students from Bnei Akiva Schools in Toronto (Ulpanat Orot) during their lunch time! | |  | Prayer for the State of Israel by Women around the World
Last week, women from over 30 countries gathered in an inspirational night of tefillah and song for the safe return of our hostages and the protection of our soldiers.
As part of the program, World Mizrachi created this video of women around the world saying the prayer for the State of Israel.
אָבִינוּ שֶׁבַּשָּׁמַיִם, צוּר יִשְׂרָאֵל וְגוֹאֲלוֹ, בָּרֵךְ אֶת מְדִינַת-יִשְׂרָאֵל, רֵאשִׁית צְמִיחַת גְּאֻלָּתֵנוּ. | | | The Highs and Lows from This Week's Mizrachi Delegation
This week's delegation began at the Mizrachi offices hearing from Mizrachi's representative at the National Institutions Roi Abecassis about the plans to rebuild and rebrand the area of the kibbutzim around the Gaza border.
The group then traveled to Tel-Aviv where they met with families of hostages and discussed what they can do to help.
From there they went to the Shura army base where they met with Mizrachi rabbis serving there and heard about the tragic work that the IDF Rabbinate has been experiencing there since October 7th.
They ended the day by visiting the shiva of Rose Lubin z"l, where Rose's father implored them, and indeed everyone, to try to find something to do for Klal Yisrael every day, the same way his daughter did. 🗣️ To watch Rabbi Mordechai Torczyner of Eitz Chayim of Dogwood Park recall the emotions of the first day of this week's delegation to Israel click here. | | | Day two began with the delegation visiting the injured at Soroka Hospital, before traveling to the harrowing site of Kfar Aza, seeing so much destruction.
They visited the community of Ofakim where they visited the very location where every community member did their part to fight back on October 7th.
The delegation then ended their day at an IDF base where they ate, danced and spoke with soldiers at the base, together with Rabbi Yosef Zvi Rimon. | | 🎙️ "For Jews in Israel, for Israelis experiencing this, it's not just about the nation keeping them strong, it's not just about history keeping them strong, it's not just about family or a personal sense of vision, meaning, or purpose. It's really all of those things. For Am Yisrael living with Torat Yisrael, even if it's not religious people, living in the Land of Israel – all of those things come together in a kind of synergy that gives an unbelievable sense of vision, strength, of future, of joy, which was really the most shocking thing."
To watch Rabbi Hyim Shafner of Kesher Israel Congregation in Washington DC reflecting on the second day of the Mizrachi delegation, click here. | | | On the final day of the delegation, the group started the day by paying a shiva call to the family of Nati Harush z"l, who was killed operating in Gaza last week.
Later, they met displaced families from Sderot, hearing their stories, and sponsored a special show for the children focusing on how to deal with their emotions during challenging times.
They also met with Jacqui and Yaron Vital, parents of Adi Vital Kaploun, a mother of two who was murdered on October 7th. Adi was the niece of RCA Israel Representative Rabbi Reuven Tradburks. | | | Look out for more Mizrachi delegations next week! | | 📣 The Youth materials for Parshat Toldot are now online!
📰 HaMizrachi Parsha Weekly Youth Edition, a Parsha sheet designed for youth
🗞️ Chavruta, a study sheet great for kids or parent-student sessions
🌐 Now Available in Spanish and Portuguese!
👉 To download, print, and register: mizrachi.org/youth | |  | | 6️⃣ Rabbis' Reflections and Actions Six of the rabbis who joined last week's delegation shared their reflections and calls to action just before they returned to the United States.
🇮🇱 Rabbi Kalman Topp, Beth Jacob Congregation
🇮🇱 Rabbi Brahm Weinberg, Kemp Mill Synagogue
🇮🇱 Rabbi Ya'akov Trump, Young Israel of Lawrence-Cedarhurst
🇮🇱 Rabbi Daniel Korobkin, Beth Avraham Yoseph of Toronto
🇮🇱 Rabbi Shalom Axelrod, Young Israel of Woodmere
🇮🇱 Rabbi Adam Starr, Ohr Hatorah of Toco Hills | | | Last week, the Mizrachi-YI Shuls Network and National Council of Young Israel partnered with magician Alan Sakowitz from Miami, Florida, to bring free magic shows to children and their parents in Carmei Gat, Bet Shemesh, and Ramat Bet Shemesh.
A special show was done for displaced residents of the South in conjunction with Lemaan Achai, and two shows were done specially for children whose fathers have been drafted.
A special thank you to Alan for dedicating so much time and effort to bringing joy to so many families and children! | | Thousands of Israeli families cannot return to their homes in the coming months, and you can help them! Do you own an apartment that is currently vacant? 🏠 The World Zionist Organization undertakes responsibility for your apartment for 3️⃣ months, pays the water, electricity and gas bills, insures the apartment and commits to returning it clean and in good condition at the end of the period. If you open your heart and your home 💙 we will furnish it if necessary and make all the necessary arrangements to house families of evacuees from the south and the north. By doing so we will provide them with a home for 3️⃣ months, and we will give them the opportunity to sleep peacefully at night, 🙏 and everything is under the responsibility of the World Zionist Organization. To date, we have housed more than 250 families in homes donated to us by Israelis and Jews worldwide, but hundreds more families are still waiting. For more information and to leave details about apartments that you would like to donate to the "My Home - Your Home" project, please visit https://tinyurl.com/emyhomeisyourhome Or send an email to arielc@wzo.org.il Please share 💪 🇮🇱 Together we will win this war! | | 🤩 OVER 2,000 LETTERS AND VIDEOS!
🇮🇱 More than 2,000 letters and videos have already been delivered to soldiers and school children from dozens of cities around the world!
🤳 There has been a special request for more videos for school children
Please send to:
📹 Videos - videosforisrael@mizrachi.org
✉️ Letters - lettersforisrael@mizrachi.org
📷 Pictures - picturesforisrael@mizrachi.org | |  Unite with Israel
 Tefillah
 Uplifting Videos
 Useful Links
 In Memoriam
 Support Israel
 Send a Letter to school children or chayalim
 mizrachi.org/unitewithisrael | | Looking for speakers from Israel? World Mizrachi can connect you with leading speakers on a variety of topics related to the current situation:
 Divrei chizuk
Geopolitical analysis
Views from the Gaza periphery
Torat Eretz Yisrael
 For more information, email jacqui@mizrachi.org | | HaMizrachi Parsha Weekly
The Parshat Toldot edition of HaMizrachi Parsha Weekly is now available!
You can find it in 2 formats:
1️⃣ Economic Printing (7 double sided pages)
2️⃣ Full Printing (14 double sided pages) | |  | Tzurba Hilchot Shabbat Program has begun!
Weekly shiur by Rabbi Shalom Rosner is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, as well as OU Torah and YU Torah websites.
Tzurba M'Rabanan is a groundbreaking learning program that makes the learning of Halacha clear, relevant and interesting.
To date, the Lax Family Tzurba M'Rabanan English Series consists of 17 volumes, covering around one hundred topics in Halacha.
For more information and to purchase volumes of Tzurba M'Rabanan, go to tzurbaolami.com | | 📖 "The Jewish State" Available to Purchase
Following the book launch at Mizrachi's World Orthodox Israel Congress, "The Jewish State" by Rabbi Doron Perez is available to buy online for delivery to Israel, Australia, Canada, UK, and USA, as well as for collection at the Mizrachi offices in Israel and South Africa.
For some of the approbations, see the flyer above.
To purchase, click here: mizrachi.org/the-jewish-state-order-form | | TOLDOT
Learning from History
By Mrs. Yael Leibowitz "This is the story of Yitzchak, the son of Avraham, Avraham begot Yitzchak." Our parasha, which tells of the trials, tribulations, and triumphs of our forefather Yitzchak begins by calling to mind the father-son relationship between Avraham and Yitzchak. So, as readers, familiar with the promises Hashem made to Avraham, we expect Yitzchak's life to pick up from where Avraham's left off. We expect Yitzchak to continue what Avraham started and advance his father's mission. But in place of progress, what we seem to find as we read about Yitzchak's life is a sense of repetition. Like Avraham, Yitzchak struggled for years with childlessness, and like Avraham, tensions over inheritance erupted between the children he finally had. Like Avraham, Yitzchak experienced a famine in Canaan, and like Avraham, Yitzchak feared for his life in a foreign space, so he pretended his wife was his sister. In perhaps the most tangible example of this phenomenon, we are told that "the Philistines stopped up the wells which his father's servants had dug in the days of his father Avraham, filling them with earth," thus compelling Yitzchak to re-dig all that had previously been dug. Thus, a superficial reading of this parasha leaves us frustrated, wondering if Yitzchak's life was nothing more than a redo of Avraham's.
But in fact, a close reading reveals that there are as many differences between the experiences of Avraham and Yitzchak as there are similarities. While Yitzchak's wife had been barren like his father's, Yitzchak knew to believe in the possibility of miracles and prayed to G-d for a child. Likely shaped by his own childhood, Yitzchak wanted his sons to co-exist, which may explain why, ultimately, despite their complicated past, reconciliation between Ya'akov and Eisav was achieved. When Yitzchak experienced a famine in Cana'an he did not venture beyond the boundaries of the Promised Land, and as a result, although Rivka had to be passed off as his sister, she was never taken captive. Many of the events that Avraham witnessed repeated themselves in the days of Yitzchak. But Yitzchak had already internalized the lessons his father had learned, and as a result, his responses to those events were drastically different.
The men of Gerar tried to wear down Yitzchak's resolve. They thought that if they could force him to keep redoing what his father had already done, they could intimidate him into surrendering. But Yitzchak knew then what so many of us are being reminded of today. Yitzchak knew that while Jewish history may appear repetitive, in fact it can be progressive, we just need to be wise enough to learn from the generations that preceded us. Yitzchak knew that we cannot always control what history throws our way, but we can react based on the lessons we have inculcated into our national narrative. Yitzchak knew that rather than wearing us down, evoking our parents' experiences only makes us more committed to their dreams. And Yitzchak knew that while we cannot always control what happens to us, we must never capitulate to those who want us to disappear.
Mrs. Yael Leibowitz teaches at the Matan Women's Institute for Torah Learning and the Pardes Institute. She is a member of the Mizrachi Speakers Bureau (www.mizrachi.org/speakers). | | | Besorot Tovot and Shabbat Shalom! | | | | |
Visiting new graves of the recently fallen at Har Herzl and the monuments for those killed in terror attacks which will have to be remodeled
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