Mussar from the Torah Portion - MIKEITZ

Mikeitz: Waiting for the Dream

It took a long time, but Joseph's dreams eventually came to pass.

How long? Joseph became viceroy of Egypt at age thirty, and nine years later (after seven years of plenty and two years of famine), his brothers came to buy food. So Joseph's dream that his brothers would one day bow down before him and recognize his greatness were fulfilled only when he was 39 years old. Since he had dreamt those dreams of future greatness at age 17, we see that they took 22 years to come true!

"Rabbi Levy said: one should wait as long as 22 years for a good dream to come true. This we learn from Joseph." (Berachot 54a)

What is special about the number 22? In what way is it connected to the fulfillment of dreams?

Rav Kook noted that there are 22 letters in the Hebrew alphabet. Through myriad combinations of these 22 letters, we can express all of our thoughts and ideas. If we were to lack even one letter, however, we would be unable to formulate certain words and ideas.

The ancient mystical work "Sefer Hayetzira" ("Book of Formation") makes an interesting point concerning the creation and functioning of the universe. Just as words and ideas are composed of letters, so too, the vast array of forces that govern our world are in fact composed of a small number of fundamental causes. If all 22 letters are needed to accurately express any idea, so too 22 years are needed for all those elemental forces in the world to bring about any desired effect. Thus, we should allow a dream as long as 22 years to come to fruition.#

Rabbi Levy is also teaching us another lesson: nothing is completely worthless. We should not be hasty to disregard a dream. In every vision, there resides some element of truth, some grain of wisdom. It may take 22 years to be revealed, or its potential may never be realized in this world. But it always contains some kernel of truth.

Thought for the Week - Vayeishev

In this week's Torah portion, Joseph is flung into a pit, to await his death, or Reuben's secret plan to rescue him clandestinely.

The Torah describes the pit as being "empty, without any water."

Asks the Vilna Gaon, why it has to relate that the pit was empty and not aqueous at all?

Rashi explains that the Torah tells us there wasn't any water in the pit to implicate the fact that there were scorpions and snakes in the pit - not the safest place to be at all!

However, says the Vilna Gaon, that the water represents spirituality and the snakes and scorpions indicate the vain pursuits that one can pursue in the physical world.

The Torah is compared to Torah in Rabbi Akiba's famous parable about a fox who tries to entice a fish to escape the fishermen by jumping up onto dry land, for the fox's lunch. The fish rebukes the fox by exclaiming that if in the water they have a chance of being caught and killed; on land they will surely 100% die!

We see from this there is no middle ground. We have to strive to fill our "pits" with water. We cannot let snakes and scorpions in. Ask any professional terminator, the best way of dealing with an infestation is the clear out the place or block the hole/crevice where the infestation takes place. By filling ourselves with spirituality, we ensure that no negative influences can come in; there simply isn't any room.

This week I shall...

...contemplate my role in bringing spirituality to my life, using the wisdom of the Torah to help me in my day to day occurrences.


Shabbat Shalom

Ethics from the Weekly Torah Portion - Vayeishev

Fighting Fire... With fire?

In this week's Torah portion we read about Joseph, who is wrongly imprisoned at Potiphar's wife's claims that he was trying to seduce her, when in actual fact it was the absolute reverse!

He was flung in jail by the corrupt Egyptian regime. Therefore it would have seemed natural for him and perfectly understandable if he would have hated Pharoah's butler and baker, who were flung in jail with him.

But once again, the absolute opposite occured. Joseph even inquired about their welfare,  having seen they were perturbed and at severe unrest by their mystic dreams; which Joseph proceeded to interpret.

And it was this that saved his life and set the balls rolling in what has become Jewish history that was set in motion way back then and continues until this very day.

By having interpreted their dreams, the butler knew he was good at interpreting dreams in general, which came in handy when Pharoah had his own troubling dream 2 years later.

It was this one act of kindness that got Joseph rescued from jail and enabled salvation for him and his brothers later on during the famine. 

We see from this that we must never underestimate what one act of kindness can do. We are told in the Talmud that good deeds is one of three things that keep the world in existence. 

We also see from this episode that we must instigate this. Many people will respond to requests; but it is far better to be the instigator. I have personally experienced many times when I have been a guest in a synagogue or a Jewish community the numerous offers of hospitality and assistance that were offered to me without any action on my part. 

This is what we learn from Joseph and this is how we should strive to act in inter-personal relationships.

Shabbat Shalom!

Short Thought from the Parsha - Vayeishev

"your sheaves bowed down to me"
"the sun, moon, and eleven stars bowed down to my star"

This week's Torah portion discusses, amongst other things, the 2 dreams Joseph has and tells his brothers about. One is about the sun and the moon, spiritual things; And the other about sheaves of grain; physical things.

However, Classic Chassidic thought tells us that the fact that both these dreams had the same meaning shows us that our physical and spiritual lives must be one and the same- we should live with the spiritual fully ingrained in us, and not two separate entities.

Today I shall...

Remember I am both a Jew and a Human being, and will try to create a fusion of these two elements for the greater good.

VAYEISHEV - Ethics from the Torah Portion

Vayeishev: The Nature of Exile

"They took Joseph and threw him into the pit. The pit was empty and had no water within it" - (Bereishit / Gensis 37:24)

When the brothers threw Joseph into the pit, the exile began — not just Joseph's personal exile from his father's house and the Land of Israel. From that dark, empty pit, began the exile of the entire Jewish people to Egypt.

Joseph's pit is a metaphor for Galut, for each exile of the Jewish people from their land.

Three Types of Pits

There are, of course, different kinds of pits. There are pits filled with water, wells that provide life to those living near them. One must be careful not to fall in and drown, but these are productive, useful pits.

Then there are empty pits. They serve no purpose, and are dangerous. Nonetheless, even empty pits have a positive side to them. With effort and skill, they may be filled with water and transformed into useful pits.

And there is a third type of pit. The Talmud (Shabbat 22a) quotes Rabbi Tanchum that Joseph's pit belonged to this third category. It was empty of water, but it contained other things — snakes and scorpions. Such a pit is of no use — neither actual nor potential - for humans.

Some mistake the pit of Exile for a well of water. Yes, one must be careful not to drown in it; but overall, they claim, it is a positive experience. If Jews are careful to act in a manner that will not arouse anti- Semitism, they can dwell comfortably in their foreign homes.

But the true nature of Exile is like Joseph's pit, full of snakes and scorpions. It is a dangerous and deadly place for the Jewish people. Such a pit has only one redeeming quality, intrinsic to its very nature: it will never mislead the Jews into mistaking it for their permanent homeland.

Snakes and Scorpions

Rabbi Tanchum spoke of a pit containing snakes and scorpions. What is the difference between these two dangerous animals? A snake bites with its head, while a scorpion stings with its tail. The snakebite is a planned and intentional act, executed by the directives of the snake's brain. A scorpion stings from its tail instinctively, without thought.

Exile is accompanied by both of these blessings. There are times of intentional and malevolent persecution, such as those perpetrated by the Crusaders, Chmielnicki's Cossacks, Nazi Germany, and other sinister snakes of history. These are dark hours for the Jewish people, but they are also times of shining heroism and self-sacrifice.

Worse than these intentional snakebites are the continual, unintentional scorpion stings which are an intrinsic part of Exile. Cultural dissonance, intermarriage, and assimilation take their slow, unintended toll on the Jewish people and their connection to the Torah.

The afflictions of Exile are by heavenly decree, lest we confuse a temporary resting place in the Diaspora for a permanent home for the Jewish people. The only true remedy for these snakebites and scorpion-stings is to rescue the Jews from the pit, and restore them to their proper homeland.

by Rabbi Chanan Morrison

VAYISHLACH - Ethics from the Weekly Torah Portion

In this week’s Torah portion of Vayishlach, the epic battle between Yaacov, Jacob and the guardian angel of Eisav, Esau takes place. This fateful occurrence led to Jacob receiving the name Yisrael, Israel, the name that the Jewish people have been identified under since its inception to this very day.

According to the Ramban, Nachmanides, the fight between Jacob and the guardian angel of Eisav alludes to the current exile facing the Jewish people.

And this is where we can learn a lovely message. Ya’acov was wounded from the battle, which caused the commandment forbidding the gid hanasheh, a specific of an animal being eaten, as this was the part of his body that was wounded.

However later on, Yaacov was healed from his injury. So why do we still have the prohibition of consuming the “Gid Hanasheh”?

This is to remind us, that all the pain and suffering we face in exile; every persecution of the Jewish people, will soon be over. Indeed if one looks at any nation in history that have persecuted the Jews, none are around today but we are. The romans came and went, as did the Babylonians and the Greeks. The Egyptian nation, the most powerful at the time, was left crippled after the Jewish people left. The Cossacks, Communists and the Nazis have all disappeared as well.

The Jewish people survived them all, whilst they exist only in violent and bitter memories of the past.

And this is what we learnt. We still have the prohibition of the Gid HaNasheh. This is the positive aspect of the battle. The prohibition isn’t for the fact that Yaacov was wounded. The prohibition is because Yaacov wasn’t killed!

A story is told of Simon Wiesenthal, the famous Nazi hunter, Ob”m, whilst he was in a concentration camp. During the Holocaust, he was once speaking to a certain leading Rabbi, and complained of an incident that happened in the barracks in the hell-on-earth that was. An observant Jew had smuggled in a Siddur, a Jewish prayer book, into the barracks. However, the price for 10 minutes with the book was half the daily ration of food.

Notwithstanding the minimal amount of “food” they got, the waiting list for use of the prayer book was never-ending. One day, the owner of the prayer book passed away, for his stomach couldn’t take the vast amounts of food he was receiving. Simon Wiesenthal couldn’t believe this apparent cruelty and lack of humanity that had become this Jew to take food away from others in exchange for use of his prayer book.

The Rabbi answered – “Don’t focus on the fact he took the food from his fellow Jews; focus on the fact they gave half their food in those absolutely terrible conditions in order to pray”

One can always look at a glass as being half-full or half-empty. The Gid HaNashe teaches us that the glass is never half-empty. It is always half full.

Ethics from the Parsha - Vayetzei

Ethics from the Weekly Torah Portion – VAYETZEI

An Excellent Exile?

In this weekly series, we take a look at the lessons from this week’s Torah portion (Vayetzei) that we can take with us into our everyday life.

Yaakov, Jacob flees his raging brother Esau, who is out for the kill. He therefore leaves the land of Israel and goes to Charan. The Midrash tells us that this alludes to the present day exile.

But what connection is his “exile” to our current one?

Says the late Rabbi of Lubavitch, R’ Menachem Mendel Schneersohn, that Jacob’s descent to Charan had both a negative and a positive purpose. Besides having to flee from his life, he also went out with the intent of building a family which would provide the leaders of the Jewish people until this day.

Therefore, in the same way, our exile also has positive connotations. We are on a journey; to add spirituality to the world – to our lives. This is also deduced by the fact that Jacob’s father Yitzchak, Isaac did not even know about the negative reason Jacob had to run away for; he was just aware of the positive; of finding a suitable partner to build the future of the Jewish people. And this is what we have to focus on.

And I would like to speak about another Jacob, my great-grandfather, R’ Jacob Lax, who perished in the Auschwitz concentration camp. Today, the 4^th of Kislev, marks the 69^th anniversary of his death. What is remarkable is that shortly before he was murdered in the horrific gas chambers, he took out a bottle of wine and made Kiddush, the sanctification of the Sabbath day (it was Friday towards evening, when the Sabbath comes in), just minutes before dying al Kiddush Hashem – the sanctification of God’s name.

Whilst it is very easy to see all the negative things that have occurred during this exile; the holocaust, pogroms, persecutions, etc. that have ensured that not a century goes by without constant troubles for the Jewish nation around the world, it is very difficult to see the good. By adding light, we remove the darkness. The act of reciting Kiddush and praising God is a tremendous act of faith in a place that was a hell-on-earth, the cause for over a million deaths, is a bold act of faith. It is what is positive in this exile.

As expressed by the Chassidic Master, R’ Menachem Mendel of Kotzk – “For some people, their faith is like an overcoat. It is worn by them and benefits only themselves in keeping warm. However, others light a fire. This enables all around to benefit from the warmth and heat the fire provides.” This is what my great-grandfather symbolised, by thinking about others, by fulfilling the obligation to recite the Kiddush on Shabbat for not only himself, but all around, even in the valley of death – This is what we must all aspire to do.

The flame will never be extinguished. We must never forget the suffering of millions over the years. Through accentuating the positive side of the exile, we will merit to see the ultimate redemption, may it come speedily in our days.