CHALLENGES; IT’S ABOUT FACE
This week’s Parsha, Vayeishev, introduces us to Yosef Hatzadik. Throughout the libraries of Torah thought, Yosef is known with this title, hatzadik, the righteous one. There is nobody else in the Chumash who carries that title. What did Yosef do to achieve this?
Continue reading Vayeishev 5778OUT FROM OPEN JAWS
As a child growing up in the 1960’s every Shabbos I thought of the Jews of the Soviet Union. Our family always sang the Shabbos zemer of Ko Ribon Olam. The third stanza forms a prayer to HaShem in which we plead with Him to please save the sheep from the mouth of the lion, and take out Your nation from their exile.
What a picture! The lion’s jaws are already open and the sheep is in his mouth. Once the lion closes his mouth there will be no more sheep. That is the illustration of HaShem’s people in this exile. This picture was certainly not an accurate description of the exile I was experiencing in Baltimore. It was, however, a perfect illustration of the plight of the Jews of the Soviet Union.
UNDERSTANDING YOUR BALANCE SHEET
This week’s Parsha, Mikeitz, begins with the Torah informing us that Yosef’s freedom from prison was delayed two years. Our Sages explain that this was the con-sequence of Yosef’s lack of bitachon (trust) in HaShem. In last week’s Parsha, after Yosef deciphered the butler’s dream he asked the butler to please remember him to Pharaoh and to get him out of prison. This slight reliance on the butler’s assistance demonstrated an ever so slight shortcoming in Yosef’s bitachon. He should have said nothing to the butler and allow HaShem to bring about his freedom with no assistance at all.
Continue reading Mikeitz 5781THE BLIND HAVE DEEPER INSIGHT
Adapted from Rabbi Aaron Lopiansky’s talk
I am so grateful to the readership of TableTalk as you provide me the opportunity of ‘pirsumei nisa’ on this beautiful holiday of Chanuka. In light of the holiday I wish to dedicate this thought to Chanukah rather than to this week’s Parsha, Mikeitz.
Chanukah celebrates our survival and ultimate triumph over the threat of assimilation into the Greek culture. Although we achieved both military and political victories against the Greeks, it is the religious victory that we celebrate. The reason for this is because the criteria of being worthy of establishing a holiday on our calendar is that the event must be an historically alter-ing event. For example, the Exodus transformed us into a people. The receiving of the Torah gave definition to our mission as a people and so on.
THE SMALL WEAK FLAME CONTINUES TO BURN
Among the many lessons of Chanukah is the power of the minority. We find this quality is underscored in the Al Hanisim that is said multiple times a day throughout Chanukah. The composers of this prayer equate the purity and the righteousness of our people to their being weak and few in numbers. Certainly, purity and righteous-ness qualify us and make us worthy of victory. But how does being weak and few in numbers make us worthy of victory?
Continue reading Mikeitz 5779THE STRUGGLE
As we currently stand in the middle of Chanukah I would like to look past our weekly Parsha, Mikeitz, and keep our focus on Chanukah.
HaShem designed the human being with the capacity to train himself to do difficult activities that with enough practice those activities become easy. For example, anyone who changes their daily routine to wake up at 4:30 am will find this quite difficult and yet once it becomes routine the difficulty diminishes if it does not become natural for him. Similarly, this is true with learning a new discipline. A person can train himself to hear the fine differences between the various notes and octaves until it becomes second nature. This is truly a blessing.
The Stones
Our Parsha opens with Yaakov Avinu on his way to Uncle Lavan to find a wife. He lies down on what is today the Temple Mount and surrounds himself with a set of 12 stones. Chazal teach us that the stones began to quarrel. Each one claiming that Yaakov should rest his head on it. They quarreled until they united into a single stone. They lost their respective distinctness and blended into one single stone.
Continue reading Vayeitzei 5783KNOW YOUR ENEMY
Taken from the thoughts of Rabbi Ezriel Munk, Rabbi of Adass Yisroel – Berlin
In this week’s Parsha when Yaakov is alone, the angel (the spiritual source) of Eisov engages him in a wrestling match and tries to bring him down. The fight endures through the night and the angel is unable to topple Yaakov. At day-break the angel tells Yaakov that he must go. Yaakov refuses to release him unless the angel will bless him. The angel asks Yaakov what his name is to which Yaakov responds ‘Yaakov’. The angel then tells him that his name will no longer be Yaakov but will be Yisroel. Yaakov then asks the angel ‘and what is your name?’ to which he responds that he has no permanent name. Rashi explains that the angel’s name reflects the mission he is on. Since his mission changes his name changes as well.
THE GIFT THAT KEEPS ON GIVING
In this week’s Parsha, Vayishlach, HaShem tells Yaakov “The Land that I gave to Avraham and to Yitzchok I will give it to you and to your children after you I shall give the Land.” The redundancy jumps out at us. Why does HaShem indicate giving the Land to Yaakov and his children twice?
The Ohr HaChaim HaKadosh explains “if HaShem did not repeat the second giving, the implication would be that Yaakov will receive the Land for the sake of giving it to his children. With the additional giving, HaShem is telling Yaakov that He is giving it to Yaakov for himself and He is also giving it to Yaakov’s children.”
CHAIN OF COMMAND
Adapted from Rabbi Aaron Lopiansky’s talk
In this week’s Parsha, Vayishlach, we find Yaakov having to wrestle with the angel of Eisov. The struggle lasts the entire night until the angel sees that he is unable to bring down Yaakov. In one final effort the angel succeeds in dislocating Yaakov’s thighbone. Although, Yaakov is recognized as the victor, he nevertheless suffers injury. What is the significance of this story and how is it relevant to us?
Our Sages teach us that the human body is divided into three parts. The first is the head which is directed by the mind, the second is the upper torso which is directed by the heart and the remainder of the body which is directed by the liver.