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Thursday, December 16, 2010

Newsletter 10 Tevet Fast Parasha Va Yechi 5771

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The Identity of the Bride up to the Torah

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Our last book has now been translated into English and Dutch now!   It is a strong prophetic message that sheds light on the rise of Islam and the solution HaShem has planned to fight it.

 We are at the dawn of the 21st century, 2,000 years after the coming of our Master Yeshua and the world is on the road to ruin. While the Church should be strong after these centuries of practice, we witness the rise of a conquering religion, entering with power in all the civilized Christian countries to subjugate and submit men and women to an iron yoke. What are the reasons for this spiritual war and why does G-d allow Islam to conquer the Western world? What are the secret agreements concluded by our governments to give access to mass immigration for Muslims in Europe and in the United States? We will try to answer these questions in part, in this study based on the sacred texts of the Word of G-d and certain Jewish sources.



Kingdom Tithes and Offerings A Jewish perspective
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For if you really believed Moshe, you would believe me; because it was about me that he wrote.  But if you don't believe what he wrote, how are you going to believe what I say?" John 5:46-47  
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 I feel overwhelmed in my spirit this morning to tell you how much both your studies and friendship have meant this last year; how important they are; and what an immense blessing (which is not a strong enough word) for myself and, by extension, my daughter.  I pray without having proper words to express that G-d would shine upon you and pour out upon you in such ways as have not been seen before!
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NewsletterTevet 10 5771- December 17 2010
Shabbat shalom!
Shabbat 
"If you hold back your foot on Shabbat from pursuing your own interests on my holy day; if you call Shabbat a delight, ADONAI' s holy day, worth honoring; then honor it by not doing your usual things or pursuing your interests or speaking about them. Isaiah 58:14 If you do, you will find delight in ADONAI-- I will make you ride on the heights of the land and feed you with the heritage of your ancestor Yaakov, for the mouth of ADONAI has spoken." Isaiah 58:13-14

 
A very interesting comment from one member of the Yeshiva:
"This past weekend when I was meditating, the L-rd showed me something---not a profound revelation mind you, just a continuation of what He's been showing me concerning the House of Judah---I correlate it to 2 Corinthians 3:3 clearly you are an epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of flesh, that is, of the heart. 

Judah is not just the keeper of the Oracles of G-d, they are not just leader in the things of G-d; He has made them a  "living epistle"---His book on display, so to speak. Again, Judah, the elder brother has been leading the way. This living epistle has been and continues  to be a visual, living  depiction of His eternal plan set in the midst of man for all to see.  Through obedience to the practice and keeping of the annual feasts, Shabbat, Torah, they continually and symbolically depict His redemption, death, burial, resurrection, infilling, ingathering, forgiveness, light, eternity through  openly keeping His commandments! This "epistle" has been on display for centuries, as a testimony, but sadly, man has not seen and has openly condemned, criticized, ridiculed, tried to destroy and has oft times refused to receive this wonderful display of HaShem's faithfulness. His awesome plan truly on display every day for those who have eyes to see and ears to hear and a heart to receive what has been written and given. I pray that all would see, but especially the House of Israel/Ephraim  as the tribes make their return. I thank G-d for putting on display through Judah, in the keeping of His appointed feasts, His eternal plan and that He has given me eyes to see!! "
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The Complete training will allow those who want to teach Torah to be part of our network of Torah teachers, who desire to start a Yeshiva in their home or at their kehila. Sukkat David will offer help to those who want to initiate Torah study groups.

Take the opportunity to study Torah starting with the highly prophetic Book of Genesis. Torah is the key for the end times; everything has been written in it. We just need to dive into it and receive tremendous revelations on Yeshua and His plan for our lives.
 
From the beginning of the messianic calling of the first Patriarch, the Torah teaches us that faith is the key to salvation. Grace also has been present since the beginning.
The foundations are laid from the first Book of the Bible, to help us understand the perfect plan of salvation that G-d has for mankind. If one doesn't study the foundations of this plan a great part of the Revelation is lost, notably, the Revelation of Messiah Yeshua.
 
Receiving Him in our heart as Savior and Master is one thing, one first necessary step for our salvation, but our path doesn't stop there. After Pesach (salvation by grace), we must head to the Festival celebrated in honor of HaShem, "three days walk" after the reception of the Torah: Shavuot. Avraham saw the L-rd, and the story of his life and of his descendents reveals His Presence, even from the beginning.
 
The same way we have received the Savior in our hearts,  it is now about receiving His Torah engraved in our hearts, even as proclaimed by the prophets in Jeremiah 31:31.  True new birth takes place by the action of the Ruach HaKodesh, who circumcises our hearts to be able to walk according to the criteria of holiness of Elohim.

But in order to be able to walk in these commandements, under Yeshua's yoke, we need to know the Word. When did G-d speak, before the eyes and to the ears of all, with the sound of thunder, setting ablaze an entire mountain? The answer is obvious: the Creator of the universe came to reveal His heart at Mount Sinai, a place that didn't belong to anyone,  and that was open freely to all those who wanted to drink the waters of life.
Yeshua manifested Himself on that day at Mount Sinai, but only Moshe could see Him. Moshe's skin shone so intensely that he covered it with a veil. He shone from the initial Light of Creation: the Light of Messiah. He is the PURPOSE of the Torah; He fills us with His love and calls us to follow Him, to prepare a heavenly Bride.

He left us these words: John 5:45-47 But don't think that it is I who will be your accuser before the Father. Do you know who will accuse you? Moshe, the very one you have counted on! For if you really believed Moshe, you would believe me; because it was about me that he wrote. But if you don't believe what he wrote, how are you going to believe what I say?


Indeed, if we don't believe the Torah of Moshe, how will we believe the words of Yeshua? They are the same, only revealed to our  understanding, because the veil was lifted.
By studying the Torah, our intimate knowledge and revelation of Yeshua grows.
 
Don't stay at the stage of Pesach and salvation by grace; move on to the stage of priesthood! He is preparing the Kingdom of priests for the Glory of G-d the Father!

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Siege of Jerusalem 
Shalom to all our readers,
Today is the 10th of Tevet and a day of fasting in Jewish communities around the world as mentioned in the Book of Zachariah.

Here is an excerpt:
"Although the Torah doesn't specifically commands fasting except for the affliction of Yom Kippur, four fasts are listed in the Book of Zechariah with the promise that they will one day turn into days of joy and rejoicing during the messianic era:
Zechariah 8:19 Thus says the Lord of hosts: 'The fast of the fourth month, the fast of the fifth, the fast of the seventh, and the fast of the tenth, shall be joy and gladness and cheerful feasts for the house of Judah. Therefore love truth and peace.'

 We had a lot of rain this week which is good, but there were also many casualties associated with it. Continue to pray for all those who lost loved ones and belongings. He who mourns with Israel in her time of distress will rejoice with her in her time of joy:
Hebrews 10:25 not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together (with Israel), as the custom [is] with some; but encouraging [one another], and by so much the more as ye see the day drawing near.Isaiah 66:10-11 Rejoice with Yerushalayim! Be glad with her, all you who love her! Rejoice, rejoice with her, all of you who mourned for her; so that you nurse and are satisfied by her comforting breast, drinking deeply and delighting in the overflow of her glory. (CJB)


These fasts are all linked to the destruction of the two Temples:
· Tevet 10: Nebuchadnezzar, King of Chaldea besieged Jerusalem.
· Tammuz 17: Nebuchadnezzar made a breach in the walls of Jerusalem.
· Av 9 marks the date of the destruction of the 1st and 2nd Temples by Nebuchadnezzar and Titus, Roman Emperor.
· Tishri 3: the Governor Gedalia was assassinated under the reign of Nebuchadnezzar.

These fasts are to awaken our hearts to repentance by recalling the faults of our fathers, which led to the destruction of the Sanctuaries. These faults caused the dispersion of the sons of Israel into the nations, as Moshe prophesied to the young generation who was about to enter the Promised Land:
Deuteronomy 4:27 And the Lord will scatter you among the peoples, and you will be left few in number among the nations where the Lord will drive you.

Such repentance is necessary to hasten the reconstruction of the 3rd Temple, as the Talmud confirms :
"Any generation in which the Beit HaMikdash is not rebuilt is considered as if they had destroyed it." This passage means that every generation can, through their teshuvah (repentance) hasten the coming of the Redeemer, Messiah, and the gathering of the scattered of Zion (gathering of the 12 Tribes).
Fasting is then a preparation to repentance by confession of sins, as it is said in the Book of Leviticus:
Leviticus 26:40 But if they confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their fathers, with their unfaithfulness in which they were unfaithful to Me, and that they also have walked contrary to Me...

The prophecy of Zechariah about the transformation of these fasts into days of joy dates from about 520 BCE. The two prophets Zechariah and Haggai came back from the Babylonian exile with the people and they prophesied the reconstruction of the second Temple. This return is called in Hebrew "shivat Tzion" (the return of Zion), which began with the decree of the first king of the Persian Empire, Cyrus. He allowed the people to return to Israel after 70 years of captivity, and to rebuild the Temple.

Because of pressure from the local population, work stopped for 20 years until a new decree was issued from Darius, in the second year of his reign. During this time, the two prophets encouraged the people to rebuild the Temple by promising that its glory would be greater than the first:
Haggai 2:9 The glory of this latter temple shall be greater than the former, says the Lord of hosts. And in this place I will give peace, says the Lord of hosts.

Despite the fulfillment of Jeremiah's prophecy with the return from captivity, many Jews decided to stay behind in Babylon, comfortably settled. Following the reconstruction of the second Temple, during the 4th year of the reign of Darius, a delegation of Jews from Babylon traveled to Jerusalem to inquire of the validity of the fasts:
Zechariah 7:1-3 Now in the fourth year of King Darius it came to pass that the word of the Lord came to Zechariah, on the fourth day of the ninth month, Chislev, when the people sent Sherezer, with Regem-Melech and his men, to the house of God, to pray before the Lord, and to ask the priests who were in the house of the Lord of hosts, and the prophets, saying, "Should I weep in the fifth month and fast as I have done for so many years?"

Instead of answering directly, HaShem replied with a question in the mouth of His prophet and ended His answer two chapters later with a note of messianic hope:
Zechariah 7:5 Say to all the people of the land, and to the priests: When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months during those seventy years, did you really fast for Me-for Me?
Zechariah 8:19-23 Thus says the Lord of hosts: The fast of the fourth month, the fast of the fifth, the fast of the seventh, and the fast of the tenth, shall be joy and gladness and cheerful feasts for the house of Judah. Therefore love truth and peace. Thus says the Lord of hosts: Peoples shall yet come, inhabitants of many cities; the inhabitants of one city shall go to another, saying, Let us continue to go and pray before the Lord, and seek the Lord of hosts. I myself will go also. Yes, many peoples and strong nations shall come to seek the Lord of hosts in Jerusalem, and to pray before the Lord. Thus says the Lord of hosts: In those days ten men from every language of the nations shall grasp the sleeve of a Jewish man, saying, Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.

 Between these words, HaShem enumerates conditions to reach this time of joy. We will discover them throughout our study. ...." To read the following:Purchase the book 

 This date marks the siege of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar. We wrote an in depth study on this text and it is available for purchase from our online store.
Yaakov blessing 
Torah Weekly Portion: Va-Yechi 
We are at the end of the Book of Genesis! The Book might be ending but its prophecies are still alive and waiting for fullfillment.  
All those themes are developped in depth in the studies of our Distance Messianic Yeshiva. 

Bereshit
Messianic commentaries of the Parashot from the Book of Bereshit: a trip  through Torah to discover the Messiah...   The first volume of this series describes the beginnings of mankind and of the people of Israel. The salvation plan is revealed through the lives of the Patriarchs....Those commentaries will help you grasp very essence of the Weekly Torah portion read each week at the synagogue, by the light of the Ruach Hakodesh:
For if you really believed Moshe, you would believe me; because it was about me that he wrote. But if you don't believe what he wrote, how are you going to believe what I say?" John 5:46-47  
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Books of the month: Chanukka:I will stir up thy sons o Tzion, against thy sons o Javan


 
  


 

 

Rabbi Zweig - Parshas Vayechi

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  Rabbi Zweig on the Parsha
        by Rabbi Yochanan Zweig
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Parshas Vayechi
Capital Decision
"A lion cub is Yehudah; from the prey, my son, you elevated yourself..." (49:9)

When the brothers brought Yosef's bloody tunic before Yaakov, he exclaimed "tarof toraf Yosef" - "Yosef has been torn apart". [1] The Midrash comments that Yaakov secretly suspected that Yehudah, who is compared to a lion, was responsible for Yosef's death. [2] However, in his blessings to Yehudah Yaakov lauded his son for being the driving force behind Yosef's rescue. [3]

Although in retrospect Yehudah's actions spared Yosef's life, from the account in the verses his motivations seem less than altruistic. After the brothers agreed to kill Yosef, Yehudah stated "mah betzah..." - "what profit is there in killing our brother...Come let's sell him to the Yishmaelites." [4] If Yehudah was interested in Yosef's salvation, why was it necessary to sell him rather than just give him away? Furthermore, from the simple reading of the text it appears that Yehudah was motivated by greed, not Yosef's welfare. Why did Yaakov see fit to praise Yehuda for his actions?

If a person is given an item gratis, he will not guard it as carefully as he would if he had paid for it. If we do not have to spend money on an object our appreciation for it is diminished. Yehudah convinced his brothers that Yosef's becoming a slave would adequately supplant his death sentence. However, Yehudah wanted to insure that Yosef would be treated well as a slave. Giving Yosef away for free would not have insured this, for if those acquiring him did not spend a significant sum on doing so, they would not have considered his loss or mistreatment to be noteworthy. Therefore, Yehudah attached a price to Yosef's sale, ensuring that his buyer would consider him a commodity which is in their best interest to preserve. Yaakov deemed these actions of Yehudah worthy of praise.

1.37:33
2.Bereishis Rabbah 97:9
3.47:9
4.37:26,27

An Intricate Plot

"...in my grave, which I have hewn for myself in the land of Canaan..." (50:5)

Rashi cites a Midrash which says that Yaakov Avinu did not want to benefit from the wealth which he had amassed in Lavan's house. When Eisav made it known that he felt he had a claim to the burial grounds at Me'aras Hamachpeila, Yaakov paid him off with these funds.1 If Yaakov was averse to benefiting from these funds, how could he use them to pay off Eisav? Was it not considered a benefit when he used the cave which he received in exchange for them?

Although Yaakov did not want to benefit from this wealth, he also did not want to destroy it. This created a dilemma. If Yaakov would give it away as a gift, the recipient would owe him a favor, and therefore, Yaakov would be benefiting from the tainted money. If Yaakov would use the funds in a sale, he would benefit from the item which he received in exchange, and therefore, the tainted wealth as well.

When Yaakov became aware that Eisav claimed to be the rightful heir to Me'aras Hamachpeila, Yaakov had the opportunity to divest himself of these funds. Eisav's claims were based upon his delusional perception, not reality. There are two reasons why Yaakov had the sole rights to the burial plot at Me'aras Hamachpeila; since Eisav had sold the "bechorah" - "birthright" to Yaakov, Eisav's claim to the cave by virtue of his status as the elder brother was invalid, and the land which Avraham possessed was to be used by the Patriarchs, who would continue the Abaramatic legacy leading to the establishment of the Jewish people. Clearly, Yaakov was the heir to Avraham's legacy.

Yaakov did not give the money to Eisav in exchange for the land, which, by right was Yaakov's already, but to placate Eisav. Eisav did not consider the money to be a gift, for he maintained that he sold land which belonged to him. Therefore, Eisav felt no gratitude for the money he received. The land which Yaakov received in the sale could not be considered a benefit, for the land had always belonged to him.

1.50:5

1933

"And Yaakov lived in the land of Egypt..." (47:28)

The manner in which Parshas Vayechi is recorded in the Torah scroll differs from the normal fashion, which allows for a minimum of a nine-letter space between two parshios. This deviation prompts Rashi to comment that Parshas Vayechi is a "stumah" - "closed" or "sealed" parsha, for once our Patriarch Yaakov died, the eyes and hearts of the Jewish people were sealed due to the hardship of the servitude to which they were subsequently subjected.[1] The implication from Rashi's words is that the servitude began with Yaakov's passing. This appears to contradict Rashi's comments on Parshas Va'eira, where he teaches that the servitude began with the death of Levi who was the last of the brothers to die; as long as the sons of Yaakov were still alive, the servitude did not begin.[2] How do we reconcile both of Rashi's comments?[3]

In the third paragraph of Krias Shema we are enjoined not to stray after our hearts and our eyes. Rashi comments that the heart and the eyes are the spies which provide the opportunity for the body to sin.4 We cannot consider the heart and eyes to have only a negative purpose. Rather, a person chooses whether he will use the energies of his heart and eyes for sin or to facilitate his service of Hashem; the person's focus determines the path he will choose. If a person is focused on and motivated by the desires of his body, his limbs will function to fuel those desires. However, if his focus is on his soul and the fulfillment of the edicts of his Creator, his entire body will be harnessed to fulfill his desire for spirituality.

A person who is driven to satisfy the basic pleasures of his body has his eyes blinded and his heart sealed by his incessant hedonistic pursuit. Since he focuses only upon that which he desires, he is completely selfish and unable to perceive the needs of others. In contradistinction, a person whose actions are driven by his desire to enhance his relationship with his Creator has his eyes and heart open to sensitivities which were previously dormant. Therefore, he is able to focus upon the needs of others.

It is common that when a person perceives that he might be in danger, his natural desire for the preservation of his body is activated. Self-preservation leads a person to focus upon the needs of his body, very often causing the needs of his soul to be neglected. Although the actual servitude did not begin until after the death of Levi, Bnei Yisroel began to sense the imminent danger of oppression at the hands of the Egyptians immediately following Yaakov's demise. Sensing this activated Bnei Yisroel's need for self-preservation, and since they were so strongly focused on their physical well-being, they became desensitized to their spiritual needs; their eyes and hearts became sealed. The physical servitude had not yet begun, but the fear of its impending doom sparked the beginning of the spiritual servitude.

1.47:28
2.6:16
3.See Da'as Zekainim, Tosefos Hashlem, Maharal among the few who discuss this issue Bamidbar 39:15.
   
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The Timeless Rav Hirsch - Parshas Vayechi

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That also through them The האור Light, רפואה The Healing and The ואהבה Love of ישועת יהוהYeshuath YHWH may come back to הארץ The Land of Israel?
 
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  The Timeless Rav Hirsch
        by Rabbi Yitzchok Adlerstein
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Parshas Vayechi
Pick An Angel1
G-d Who shepherds me from my inception until this day: may the angel who redeems me from all evil bless the lads…

Who was this angel? Did Yaakov really beseech its assistance – in violation of every Jewish sensibility that demands that we never pray to anyone of anything other than Hashem Himself?

Yaakov did not pray to an angel. He did not entreat some heavenly figure to shower his grandchildren with blessing. We turn in prayer to Hashem alone; we do not admit to any other object of veneration. Praying to an angel would be all the more objectionable after beginning a prayer with a reference to Hashem Himself, as Yaakov does here!

We will unravel this mystery only if we first understand the two elements in Yaakov’s prayer. He speaks of sustenance, of Hashem “shepherding” him, giving him what he needs just as a shepherd leads his flock to the pasture land and the water they need. Yaakov also speaks of redemption, of deliverance from destructive forces that rise against him.

Our first instinct is to assume that redemption means critical intervention at moments of extreme urgency. For most people, those moments are few and far between – a handful or two in a lifetime.

Chazal thought differently. R. Eliezer[2] reasons that by bringing these two themes together in Yaakov’s tefilah, the Torah implies a strong comparison between them. Redemption is wondrous and miraculous. Therefore, says R. Eliezer, we must know that parnasah, sustenance, is miraculous as well. Furthermore, not a day goes by in which we are not given parnasah. We must therefore conclude that Yaakov refers to a redemptive deliverance that is also continuous and ever-present.

Neither parnasah nor geulah comes “simply” through laws of Nature, fixed into the fabric of Creation. Both, rather, come about through hashgachah, through Hashem’s special providence over the lives of individuals.

It is easy to see this in reference to parnasah. In a brutally competitive world that does not stop to ask questions about right and wrong, the parnasah of the honest citizen is indeed miraculous. Only a miracle can account for the food that a person of sterling character, of integrity and scruples, manages to put on his table. It is indeed a gift from G-d each day.

More subtly, his survival each day is also miraculous. So very much can go wrong! So many pitfalls, so many kinds of physical and social evils threaten to overcome and overwhelm him! Only Hashem’s geulah, His redemptive deliverance, allow him to survive. (Chazal remark that it is to our advantage that we cannot see the myriad mazikim, demonic forces, which physically surround us. This is certainly true in the social world as well. We would lose our sanity if we had to worry about all that we could reasonably worry about! We live in blissful ignorance of all the hazards that threaten us – all the envy and intrigue and disease and evil that could snuff out our existence. Our survival in spite of these challenges to our existence is the result of geulah, the constant, protective involvement of Hashem in our lives.

R. Shmuel bar Nachman observes [3] that parnasah is of greater consequence than geulah. In our pesukim, the latter is attributed to an angel; the former is associated with Hashem Himself, apparently unwilling to delegate the task to one of His messengers.

Perhaps we can explain his teaching in the following way. This daily geulah, the bubble of protection that surrounds the fortunate person chosen by Hashem to make it to the finish line, is part of an entire pattern. Some people call it fate or destiny. At its core is the undeniable fact that an individual cannot emerge from the maze of dead-ends and pitfalls without serious protection. This protection is so basic to existence, that it must precede parnasah. For an individual (or community or nation, for that matter!) to survive, it needs to be endowed from the very beginning with a complement of protectors. From the moment that Hashem determines that an individual will survive, or a nation will exist – that it is their “destiny” or “fate” to remain functional - He provides it with the proper conditions and tools to escape fatal disturbance. Seen this way, parnasah fuels the activity of something, but geulah insures the very existence of the thing that needs to be fueled.

When we step back and contemplate how fortunate we are to simply exist – how improbable our existence really is – we gratefully acknowledge His decision to have created us. We acknowledge as well all the protection we have needed to have made it to a given moment. We call it a malach, which means in this context a messenger sent by Hashem. We acknowledge that the source of our bundle of protective elements is G-d Himself; whatever is working for us does so not randomly, but because He engineered it.

The malach, then, is the entire pattern of how Hashem has ordered our survivability. Yaakov notes here the contrast between his life-pattern and that of his brother, Esav. For Esav to survive, much was required of him. He was called upon to rely upon his own strength and sword. Yaakov, by contrast, was allowed by His Creator to contribute minimally, but to be carried through the difficulties of life by Hashem’s agents.

This, then, is Yaakov’s prayer for his grandchildren, directed at Hashem and no other. “May the malach that guides your futures be the same as guided mine. May your fate and destiny be similar to mine – living through all moments of life, the good and the not so good, with G-d doing the heavy lifting, and you gratefully acknowledging His protection as you do more coasting than pedaling.
   

1. Based on the Hirsch Chumash, Bereishis 48:15-16
2. Bereishis Rabbah 20
3. Loc.cit.
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Olas Shabbos - Parshas Vayechi

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 Olas Shabbos
       by Rabbi Eliyahu Hoffmann
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Parshas Vayechi
Taking It to the Next Level

While all of Yaakov’s children receive their father’s blessings in this week’s parsha, Yosef’s sons Efrayim and Menashe are singled out:

In you Israel will bless itself, saying, “May G-d make you just like Efrayim and Menashe.” And he placed Efrayim before Menashe. (48:20)

What is so special about Efrayim and Menashe that Yaakov hoped all his descendents would turn out “just like them?” And why does the Torah stress the fact that Efrayim is placed before Menashe – which is evident both in the wording of Yaakov’s blessing, and from the strange story that preceded it?

Broadly, the Torah’s mitzvos can be broken down into two categories, known in Hebrew as bein adam la-Makom and bein adam la-chaveiro – those that apply to man’s relationship with Hashem and those that apply to his relationship with other men. One cannot pick and choose the mitzvos that best suit him: No more can one who disrespects or mistreats others consider himself a frum Jew than one who disrespects the Shabbos or fails to adhere to the laws of kashrus.

At first glance, one might be tempted to think that the only common denominator is that both interpersonal mitzvos and those that prescribe our conduct toward Hashem stem from a common source: both were commanded by G-d. Otherwise, one could theoretically excel in his spirituality while treating his peers with disdain, and vice-versa.

Chazal, our Sages, tell us it is not so:

Jealousy, desire and the quest of honor remove man from the world. (Avos 4:21)

That is to say, they ruin lives. Pursuit of these three most basic human emotions have been the downfall of kings and wise men, of the rich and the poor.

But it’s more than that. One who is consumed with desire, with jealousy or with aspirations of grandeur at some stage becomes so infatuated with his quest that he loses touch with the defining aspect of our humanity: free will. He can no longer choose whether or not to pursue the object of his yearning; his hunger and lust dominate his every molecule.

He likely thinks that by allowing his desires free reign he is giving expression to his humanity and freedom of choice. In fact, he has merely descended into the realm of the animal, which acts on instinct alone: I see, I desire, I conquer.

His frenzy leads him to foolishness in which he devises absurd justifications as to why his actions –entirely divorced from anything holy – are in fact justified. This already compromises not only his relationship with his fellow man, but his conduct toward Hashem: How can one who is completely incapable of taking an honest inventory of himself possibly hope to stand before G-d with any degree of integrity? But more so. In allowing himself to be guided by his basest desires, he allows the animal spirit to dominate the human soul – the only element of his humanness that stood a chance of relating to G-d.

In placing Efrayim before Menashe, the Agra De-Kallah explains, Yaakov put both of Yosef’s sons in a compromising position: Would Efrayim become arrogant in recognizing his apparent superiority over his older brother? Would Menashe become jealous of the honor awarded his younger sibling?

They did not. And as a result became the symbol of what every Jew hopes to attain – material blessing and spiritual growth.

Allow me to repeat those seemingly simple yet elusive goals: material blessing and spiritual growth. There is an important distinction here, that is captured in the well-known phrase, “Ba-shamayim mi-ma’al ve-al ha-aretz mi-tachas”: When it comes to material achievement, we are looking to set a baseline. Having what we need – health and material blessing – can be tremendously helpful in allowing us to pursue loftier goals without needing to worry about our next meal. At some point, though, one hits a ceiling. The height of the ceiling may vary widely according to one’s personality, social status and other factors, but everyone will at some stage reach the point of “enough.” Or, put another way, “You can only eat so many breakfasts.”

But regarding spiritual growth, as the saying goes, “the sky’s the limit.” The mistake we often make, particularly as we age, is that we take pride in having avoided the spiritual pitfalls of youth, and feel good about what we’ve achieved – but we stop aspiring for more. We lose the glean of unbridled youthful ambition, and ‘make do’ with what we’ve achieved: a wonderful family, a daf yomi shiur every day, kiddush on Shabbos...

Menashe, Mayan Ha-Shavua explains, alludes to the hurdles we’ve overcome. Menashe, from the root “to forget,” was named thus by Yosef in appreciation for G-d having helped him vanquish the trials of his youth and forget the hatred of his brothers, the slavery, and the imprisonment.

Efrayim, from the root “to be fruitful,” symbolizes that there’s so much more still to do – so many trees to plant, so many gardens to cultivate.

Yosef named his first child Menashe and his second Efrayim, as if to say, “I’m thankful for what I’ve achieved, and mindful of how much there is left to accomplish.” In blessing future generations, Yaakov switched the order: May G-d make you just like Efrayim and Menashe, and he placed Efrayim before Menashe – reminding us to never become complacent in our aspirations of achieving excellence in Torah, even as we thank Hashem for all the good He gives us. Have a good Shabbos.
   
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Olas Shabbos, Copyright &copy 2010 by Rabbi Eliyahu Hoffmann and Torah.org
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