Wagons and Unity - Vayigash

27. "And they told him all of Joseph's words that he had said to them, and he saw the wagons that Joseph had sent to carry him, and the spirit of their father Jacob was revived." כז. "וַיְדַבְּרוּ אֵלָיו אֵת כָּל דִּבְרֵי יוֹסֵף אֲשֶׁר דִּבֶּר אֲלֵהֶם וַיַּרְא אֶת הָעֲגָלוֹת אֲשֶׁר שָׁלַח יוֹסֵף לָשֵׂאת אֹתוֹ וַתְּחִי רוּחַ יַעֲקֹב 

"אֲבִיהֶם

The first question that comes up when reading this pasuk is what was so special about the wagons Joseph sent that when Yaakov saw them his spirit was finally revived after so many yesrs of agony and sadness. 

What strengthen the question even more is the fact that the brothers of Yoseph told Yaakov already that Yosef was alive yet that wasn't a good enough reason to "come back to life"?!..

Rashi on the spot also had this question and so he brought the Midrash Raba to answer it; the Midrash says that Yosef told his brothers to tell Yaakov that he is alive and if Yaakov won't believe them then show him the wagons as a proof because the last Parasha that Yosef was learning with Yaakov before he disappeared was Parashat HaAgalot.

Yet the question is still to be asked, a father hears that his son is alive after so many years wouldn't that be enough to make him the happiest on earth?! What is so great about the fact that he still remembered what parsha they learned before he left ?!

The "Aruch Laner" explains that from the parsha of the wagons we learn an important lesson in avodat Hashem. The Parasha describes how each tribe president brought their offering to Hashem each day of the week and then to bring the wagons that carried the klei hakodesh two tribe presidents would carry one wagon so total of 6 wagons, the Aruch Laner asks how come when it came to carrying the wagons you had two tribe president carrying one wagon while the daily offering was given by each tribe separately?, he learns from here that the Torah comes to teach us that Avodat Hashem has two parts one is the individual the other is the social part.

We all must work on our middot and also try to become better people however one cannot take himself hide in a cave and learn Torah forever trying to become like Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai. Hashem wants us to socialize and help others grow as well and also deal with certain nisyonot that involves society, through this we will come to unity and only through completing these two parts our avodat Hashem can get close to perfection.. It's a life long process but never too late to start.

Yaakov avinu was worried that after so many years of separation his sons will not be as close and united as they should've been and he knew that the only way for Am Israel to survive was to stick together with unity. When Yosef sent Yaakov the wagons at that moment Yaakov worries went off, the wagons represent the part of unity in avodat Hashem as we explained above and therefore when Yaakov saw the wagons he knew that his sons are still united together and that was the reason his spirit was revived.

Shavua tov may we all see Brachot viyeshuot.

(Based on the works of the book Haim Sheyesh Bahem)

Parashat Beshalach – Higher Than Tefilah

In our Parasha, Bnei Israel were for the first time facing a deadly situation, the sea in the front, the Egyptians in the back and it seemed like it’s the end of Geulat Mitzraim. At that moment Moshe was praying to Hashem and surprisingly Hashem’s response to Moshe was “what are you praying to me for?!, speak to Bnei Israel and start moving”.

The Ohr Hachaim Hakadosh asks what does “what are you praying to me for” mean? when’s a better time to pray if not now?, so many times we see that Moshe prayed to Hashem, even later in our parasha yet we never see Hashem telling Moshe to stop praying so what happened by the sea that Hashem told Moshe to stop?

The answer might actually be understood through a Midrash. The Midrash says that when Bnei Israel came out of Egypt they looked like Egyptians so much that the Malachim came infront of Hashem and told him “Halalu ovdei avoda zara ve halalu ovdei avodah zara” meaning those are worshipping idols and those are worshipping idols, that Midrash says that Bnei Israel were so deep in the “Gates of Tumah” that if they stayed in Egypt even an extra second they would never be able to come out and in fact, only twenty percent came out at the end. When Bnei Israel were standing by the sea, they did not have enough zechuyot (merits) that their Tefilah will be answered and such a miracle as the splitting of the sea will be performed for them, at that moment Tefilah was just not enough, however, there is something much stronger than Tefilah and it’s Bitachon in Hashem, to have FULL trust in Hashem, knowing that no matter what, Hashem has a plan, Hashem is running the show, and so he will be our savior in the worst situations and therefore Hashem told Moshe “what are you praying to me for?, speak to Bnei Israel and start moving”. Nachshon Ben Aminadav was the first one to be Moser Nefesh on Hashem and he jumped into the water till they reached his mouth, at that moment “hegiu mayim ad nafesh” the sea split, but in order to have such mesirut nefesh we must first have full bitachon in Hashem.

When we have full bitachon in Hashem we understand that any situation in life, no matter how bad things get is the matter of 50/50 chances, 50% chances it will get better, 50% chances it won’t. There’s no such thing is “hardly any chances it’ll be ok”, nothing is too hard for Hashem and he can literally take a person from the bottom of the dirt to the highest of life, the yeshua (salvation) of Hashem is like the blink of an Eye as David Hamelech says.

When we come to Tefilah with the approach that NOTHING is too hard for Hashem to do and that he is the only one that decides what’s next, then BeEzrat Hashem, Hashem will listen to our Tefilot and help us because he sees we understand that if not for him, no one else could help us, as the pasuk says “Hashem tzuri, ve lo avlata bo” Hashem is my rock and he is never unfair.

The way we can reach such a level of Bitachon is actually in the end of our Parasha. The Torah tells us that when Bnei Israel went to fight Amalek, Moshe went up hill overlooking the war zone, when Moshe held his hands up Bnei Israel were winning and when he was putting them down Bnei Israel were losing. The Gemara in Masechet Rosh Hashana says “DID THE HANDS OF MOSHE WAGE WAR OR CRUSH THE ENEMY? NOT SO; ONLY THE TEXT SIGNIFIES THAT SO LONG AS ISRAEL TURNED THEIR THOUGHTS ABOVE AND SUBJECTED THEIR HEARTS TO THEIR FATHER IN HEAVEN THEY PREVAILED, BUT OTHERWISE THEY FELL.” we learn from this gemara that a way for us to develop such bitachon in Hashem is by stopping for a moment and thinking about how powerful Hashem is, what a wonderful creation he made like the Navi says “Lift up your eyes on high and see, who created these, who takes out their host by number; all of them He calls by name; because of His great might and because He is strong in power, no one is missing.”

May Hashem help us all grow in Emuna and Bitachon and may we all truly live with Hashem 24 hours a day 7 days a week 365 days a year..

Shavua tov!

Almost end of the year

The clock is ticking, the time is running out, we are 15 days away from the end of the year.

It's time to take a second and rethink about everything we had been through in the last 11 and half months, from our happiest times to our most despairing ones, every single experience we went through was written already on Rosh Hashana last year and was sealed at the end of the Neila on Yom Kippur.

It's that time of the year again where we can make a change, where our next year is somewhat in our hands because everything is still open. Our daily actions from now till Rosh Hashana will determine how much happiness or chas ve shalom the opposite we will have in the upcoming year.

The Chachmei hakabala explain that on Yom Kippur it is decided how much pain or happiness a person will have in the upcoming year, if we try to prevent what might look like a guaranteed suffering, it is most likely that the suffering will come from a different direction, however now it's our time to try to increase the amount of smachot we will have next year and to decrease the pain and suffering and yehi ratzon that there will be no suffering at all!

The main way to do it is by Teshuva.

When we hear the word Teshuva we right away think about turning our life around, becoming ultra shomrei Torah umitzvoth but the Truth is that Teshuva is probably the simplest and easiest mitzva to fulfill,As the Pasuk says "ki karov eleicha hadavar meod, beficha ubilvavcha laasoto".

Naturally we would think that once the avera was done, theres no way we can go back and fix it, neither physically or spiritually. However, the Mesilat Yesharim explains that the greatness of the Teshuva is not only that our sins are forgiven but that they're literally being uprooted from our past, just as if we had never done any of it before!! That is also why the Teshuva is one of the things that Hashem created before this world, Teshuva is not bound to nature and with the power of Teshuva the "worst" sins one had ever done can be corrected and erased.

In order to do Teshuva correctly we have to engage in a 4 step process which the Rambam explains in Hilchot Teshuva, perek Bet Halacha Bet (Sefer Hamada): "what is the Teshuva?, leaving the sin, regret, confess. acceptance of future", not only that, the Rambam says that when a person confesses the sin to Hashem he has to speak it (not just think) but obviously quietly, and not only speak the confession but to also SAY "I am taking upon myself to not fall in this Sin from now on". Once a person can check through each part of the Teshuva that is the complete Teshuva the Torah speaks about.

The last part of it "acceptance of future" sounds a little worrying, as we all know we are human beings and are subjected to fall so how can we come and take upon ourselves to not do the same Avera over again?!?!, the answer is that when we truly regret our Averot and we do Teshuva and accept upon ourselves to not fall again, that is true Teshuva regardless if we will fall in the future or not, what matters is that at the time of confession and acceptance we truly regret and are ashed with out averot. The source for it we learn from Yishmael, when Sarah sent Hagar out on her own with her son Yishmael, it came to a point that Hagar had no water and could not feed her son anymore, so she put  him between the bushes and left because she couldn't see him dying. Yishmael then cried to Hashem and then Hashem opened Hagars eyes and she saw an oasis right Infront of her. The Malachim then asked Hashem why would he let Yishmael live? Some of the worst human beings will come out of him in the future, so Hashem told them, at this moment he is a Tzadik so for me he is a Tzadik.

Imagine coming Infront of Hashem on Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur and being judged as Tzadikim? With the undoubtable power of Teshuva we can all do it.

Remember now it's the time that with true repentance we can all enjoy the best upcoming year of our life bH!

Small things we do now will save us from big things later, we can't comprehend the greatness of giving out few quarters to Tzdaka daily, and going to Shiurim, doing Teshuva and prepare for Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur and of course the 10 days in between.

Yehi Ratzon that we will all do Teshuva and get as close to Hashem as we can and may whoever needs a shidduch, refua, Parnasah, Shalom Bayit, all of the above, will be given it this upcoming year with the Geula Shlema and with the pure Beracha of Hashem, Amen.