Vayigash 5780

Vayigosh

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THE SEED VAULT OF OUR PEOPLE

Excerpted from a talk from Rabbi Yaakov Kamenetsky zt’l

In the last 13 verses of our Parsha, Vayigosh, the Torah relates specific details regarding the manner in which Yosef managed the distribution of the food during the famine. It warrants investigation why should the Torah tell us of these details. There seems to be no relevance to the story of our people. Furthermore, if the Torah felt it was important why did she not mention these details in last week’s Parsha at the beginning of the famine, which would be its place chronologically.

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Vayeitzei 5780

Vayeitzei

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TRANSPARENCY

Adapted from Rabbi Aaron Lopiansky’s talks

This week’s Parsha, Vayeitzei, opens with the scene of Yaakov sleeping on what will become the Temple Mount and dreaming. In his dream is a ladder on which angels are ascending and descending. The Midrash teaches us that these angels were fascinated by the image of Yaakov. In heaven his image appeared on the Throne of HaShem and down below they see him in complete physical form. The implication is that Yaakov is the ultimate image of what HaShem intended for Man to be. Somehow, Yaakov captured the essence of the perfect Man. What was Yaakov’s quality that won him that title?

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