Parashat Vayetze Designer Genes

0:07Revolutionary scientific discoveries have been made as this field comes of age. This sefer has a lot of interesting insights and it mentions that two of the most revolutionary laws in genetics were discovered over the last hundred or so years: Mendel's laws of inheritance and the law of heterosis. and both of them appear in this week's parasha. First, the person needs to understand that the Zohar HaKadosh says that when HaKadosh Baruch Hu created the world created the world according to what the Torah says, meaning that the Torah was created before the world was created. The Midrash says that Hashem created the world 974 generations after He created the Torah, and therefore He looked at the Torah as the blueprint for creating the world.

1:21where whatever was needed according to the Torah is what he put in his world, similar to what the Midrash says in, uh, where... is like a king that designed a, uh, a castle based on what his future needs are going to be. He knew he was going to need food, so he needed to put a kitchen. He knew he was going to need a place for guests, so he put guest rooms. He knew he was going to need a lot of light in a certain room, so he put more chandeliers there, and so on and so forth. That's how those who created the world, based on the blueprint called the Torah. When a person understands who created such a world, then they can start understanding that since He is above time and above anything else, as the Creator, the past, present, and future are all the same to Him.

2:23what happened 4,000 years ago or what's happening today or what will happen tomorrow or in 50 years from now is all exactly the same in the eyes of Hashem. There is no difference whatsoever. And when He created everything, He put everything that's in existence to the smallest details inside the Torah. That's what the Gaon of Vilna writes in the sefer Safra D'Tzniuta. It's a commentary on the Zohar where he says to put every single thing that ever was and ever will be, down to the minutest details. including your personal life, including today's you, including how you're going to feel in the morning between the hours of 9 and 10 in the morning, including what socks you looked at in the store that you went to three years ago on the way to work, including what sandwich you ate

3:3215 years ago, at three o'clock in the afternoon during your lunch break from work, including what you're going to do 18 years from now at eight o'clock on a Friday, and so on and so forth, every single small detail of creation is inside the Torah. And when a person... understands that general idea because it's impossible for a person to understand the details of it since we don't think in infinite terms. Then they could easily understand how the prophecy of Yaakov could easily contain within it some of the most revolutionary discoveries in the field of genetics in recent years. Initially, the deal was supposed to be that Yaakov would leave some of the animals behind and take most of them back. However, Lavan changed the agreement. What it ended up being was that, against all odds, Yaakov would only take the solid animals, and whatever was born speckled and spotted would be his profit.

4:40Initially, the agreement was supposed to be that the ones that were there would remain. Lavan changed the deal. Initially, he was supposed to leave some of them behind and take most of them back, but Lavan changed the deal. What it ended up being was against all odds. He left them only solid animals, and whatever was born from there, if it's speckled and spotted, that's your profit. After separating them away from each other and making sure that they take those animals three days away, Yaakov starts profiting. The prophecy in Chapter 31, Verse 10, says, "And it came to pass at the time that the flock was fertile and I, meaning Yaakov, raised my eyes and saw in a dream that the rams which leaped upon the flock were streaked, speckled, and spotted," meaning that everything that he had was what he actually needed, but the reality was the exact opposite; he didn't have any spotted animals. says, "And it came to pass at the time that the flock was fertile, and I, meaning Yaakov, raised my eyes and saw in a dream that the rams which leaped upon the flock were streaked, speckled, and spotted." This means that everything that he had was what he actually needed, but the reality was the exact opposite. He didn't have any spotted animals; he didn't have anything.

5:50And then an angel of God says to me, Yaakov, and I said, here I am. He says, lift up your eyes and see the rams upon your flocks, streaked, speckled, spotted, for I have seen all that Lavan has done to you. And from this point in the dream, Yaakov begins to understand that Lavan has been cheating him the whole time, much more than he thought. he has to be more aggressive with certain things, and he decides to send Lavan the least fertile animals to mate with his flock. The verses continue, saying he sent the feeble animals to Lavan, those animals that are least likely to be fertile, and the strongest ones stayed with Yaakov's flock. And Yaakov's wealth grew. So here we see Yaakov's behavior and...

6:52was a little bit unusual. The deal itself, too, the fact that he sees in his dream, in his prophecy, that everything he has is what he needs, when in reality, it's exactly the opposite. He doesn't have spotted animals; he doesn't have anything like that, and we see that things are a little bit strange. So one thing that Yaakov did do as his hishtadlut, following the instructions of this dream, following the obligation of having some effort, is that Yaakov made sure to take the rods. made sure to take the rods. The verse says here in Genesis 30:37-39, "And Yaakov took rods of green poplar, almond, and plane tree, and peeled white streaks in them, and made the white within the rods appear." So imagine you have a stick, you know, a tree, and...

8:07and a tree, let's say, has the outside of it that looks green or brown or whatever it is, but if you take a razor and slice it, taking that off, it now exposes the white. So he made several of these. Let's say, with one tree, he made three spots of white, and he did this with several different sticks. And then he set these rods that he peeled in front of the flocks in the gutters of the watering troughs when the flocks came to drink, that they should conceive when they drink. And the flocks conceived before the rods and brought forth streaked, speckled, and spotted cattle. So we see here something unusual. What is number one? What does going to drink water have anything to do with conception and these sticks, and why do these sticks have anything to do with giving birth to spotted animals? So Rashi says over there that the sheep would go to the water...

9:23As soon as they got there, when they raised their heads, they saw these sticks, which would scare them, so they would go back. And Yaakov made sure to send the female sheep first, so as soon as they were startled by seeing this thing, they would go back, and the male was always behind them. Therefore, they would both mate. So that's the first thing that has to do with why there is the mating by the water. Now, what does the stick have to do with them producing a speckled baby lamb? From there, we learn that what the woman sees at the time of procreation affects, and even during pregnancy affects, what she produces. The Midrash Tanchuma, Parashat Naso, in chapter 9, has a story about Rabbi Akiva, where a king who was black, married to a black queen, had a child that was white, and wanted to murder his wife.

10:49His wife cried out, "Listen, I don't leave the palace. Who am I going to cheat with?" "No, you cheated on me! How could it be?" she says. "Go to the Chachamim, go to wise people, see I didn't cheat. At least give me a chance." So this black king went to Rabbi Akiva and says to him... You are black, your wife is black, and you had a white kid? Yeah, he goes, what's the problem? She says, what do you mean, what's the problem? It's a white kid. She cheated on me, I'm gonna kill her. Rabbi Akiva says, not necessarily did she cheat on you. He says, you have idols in your house, right? You have idols, statues, all types of things in your house. He says, yes. Rabbi Akiva says, what color are your statues? He says, they're white. All the statues are white. He says, okay, so it's your wife, probably when you were intimate with her she looked at one of the statues and that's why you have a white baby because our sages knew what Yaakov Avinu was doing here. probably when you were intimate with her, she looked at one of the statues, and that's why you have a white baby. Our Sages knew what Yaakov Avinu was doing here.

12:01He says, if you don't believe me, our Torah says so. We learned from Yaakov Avinu that he made these white streaks, and this led to the actual breeding of the animals turning into speckled animals. The solid brown sheep ended up having a speckled sheep baby, but they were both solid brown. However, what they saw... what the female saw at the time of conception that affected her. And from there, we learn that whatever the woman sees at the time of intimacy and even during the time that she's pregnant affects the offspring. We are meant to be a light unto the nations, not to follow their misguided practices. Remember, every Jew has to remember that he's a Jew and she's a Jew. We don't celebrate non-Jewish holidays, even if they seem harmless. It's a zilzul, a disrespect to the Torah, and could lead to chilul Hashem, desecration of God's name. Stick to our holy Torah and our own holidays. That's the path of a true Jew.