If not dealt with, molestation can ruin marriages, and affect one's functioning -- Lecture 1 of 6

202_man older.jpg

22_course_outline.pdf

rabbi_chaim_itche_drizin_child_abuse_class_1.360p.mp4

rabbi_chaim_itche_drizin_child_abuse_class_1.mp3

molested

molestation

healing

child abuse

sexual abuse

child molestation

If not dealt with, molestation can ruin marriages, and affect one's functioning -- Lecture 1 of 6

The Life-Long Effects of Child Abuse

Child Abuse in Our Communities. Lecture 2 of 6

207_empowering our children.jpg

rabbi_chaim_itche_drizin_child_abuse_class_2.360p.mp4

rabbi_chaim_itche_drizin_child_abuse_class_2.mp3

protecting child

child molesters

Child Abuse in Our Communities. Lecture 2 of 6

Empowering and Protecting Our Children Beforehand

Rewriting the Script of Your Life: Labels Make Us Feel that We Are All of Whatever the Label Says We Are. But We Are Not All of Anything. Class 3 of 4

188_kidsplayh.jpg

22_3_rewriting_the_script_of_your_life.pdf

drizin_class_3.360p.mp4

drizin_class_3.mp3

identity

script of life

lables

Labels Make Us Feel that We Are All of Whatever the Label Says We Are. But We Are Not All of Anything. Class 3 of 4

Rewriting the Script of Your Life

Child Abuse In Our Communities. Lecture 4 of 6

209_healing.jpg

22_letter_from_rabbinical_council_of_vicoria.pdf

rabbi_chaim_itche_drizin_child_abuse_class_4.360p.mp4

rabbi_chaim_itche_drizin_child_abuse_class_4.mp3

victims

recovery

Child Abuse In Our Communities. Lecture 4 of 6

How Can a Molested Victim Find Healing?

Child Abuse In Our Communities. Lecture 5 of 6

210_understanding.jpg

rabbi_chaim_itche_drizin_child_abuse_class_5.360p.mp4

rabbi_chaim_itche_drizin_child_abuse_class_5.mp3

molester

Child Abuse In Our Communities. Lecture 5 of 6

Understanding the Motivation of the Molester

It was a grand debate, a final verbal quarrel between the sixty philosophers of Athens and one Jewish sage. Who would triumph, the great Greek philosophers or the impoverished Jews? The nature of the debate: The Greeks took out two eggs; the Rabbi took out two pieces of cheese&mdash;and he won the debate.

A fascinating and cryptic Talmudic story takes us on a journey into the heart of the Jewish struggle for identity and survival in the first century CE, teaches us about the essence of &ldquo;The Three Weeks,&rdquo; and conveys the secret of resilience and endurance in times of crisis and destruction.

936_936_blackegggs.669d.jpg

22_toldos_5771.pdf

good and evil

athens

greek philosphey

eggs

cheese

The Secret of Jewish Resilience

Essay The Three Weeks & Tisha B'Av

Black Eggs & White Cheese

<div style="text-align: justify; line-height: 120%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt">
<div style="text-align: justify; line-height: 120%">This past Sunday morning, I bid farewell to a lifelong friend, who died on Shabbat at the age of 34, after a three-year battle with lung and stomach cancer.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify; line-height: 120%">&nbsp;</div>
<div style="text-align: justify; line-height: 120%">Rabbi Levi Yitzchak Deitsch was Chabad&rsquo;s ambassador to Tyson&rsquo;s Corner, Virginia, where he and his wife Miriam built a remarkable Jewish center and led a vibrant community. Levi is survived by his wife, four children, his mother, siblings, and many grieving family members and friends.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify; line-height: 120%">&nbsp;</div>
<div style="text-align: justify; line-height: 120%">I had known Levi for many years. Among other things, we shared a passion for unhealthy, delicious kosher food. Levi loved people; he knew how to celebrate life to the fullest, and had a heart of gold. His passion was to help people, never allowing awkwardness or fear to stifle his insatiable zest for giving. His laugh was contagious, his wittiness charming, and his people&rsquo;s skills impressive. I have always appreciated these qualities in him, but&mdash;as I came to realize&mdash;I never recognized who he truly was.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify; line-height: 120%">&nbsp;</div>
<div style="text-align: justify; line-height: 120%">Then, three years ago, he was struck with a terrible illness. I traveled numerous times to Virginia to visit Levi. There I encountered a new dimension to him&mdash;an unwavering courage and faith. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify; line-height: 120%">I took a trip to his hospital bed just a few days before his passing. He was physically drained, receiving oxygen, his body tormented from years of a ravaging illness. But he still had that glitter in his eye, that spark of life. He said these words to me: &ldquo;I will overcome!&rdquo; Never have I come closer to understanding that scene in Genesis 32, read in this week&rsquo;s portion, Vayishlach, in which Jacob wrestles with an unknown and unnamed adversary from night until the break of day. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify; line-height: 120%">&nbsp;</div>
<div style="text-align: justify; line-height: 120%">&ldquo;Bless Me&rdquo;</div>
<div style="text-align: justify; line-height: 120%">&nbsp;</div>
<div style="text-align: justify; line-height: 120%">22 years earlier Jacob had left home, fearing that his brother Esau, whose blessing he had taken, would kill him. Now he is returning, when he hears that Esau in on his way to meet him with a force of 400 men. Jacob, says the Bible, was &ldquo;very afraid and distressed.&rdquo; It is then that the famous scene occurs: &ldquo;Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak.&rdquo;</div>
<div style="text-align: justify; line-height: 120%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; background: white">&nbsp;</div>
<div style="text-align: justify; line-height: 120%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; background: white">The mysterious man tries to kill Jacob. Then, &ldquo;when he sees that he cannot defeat him,&rdquo; he maims Jacob, causing him to limp. And yet at the end of a long, struggling night, Jacob says to the stranger: &ldquo;I will not let you go until you bless me.&rdquo; His adversary blesses him.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify; line-height: 120%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; background: white">&nbsp;</div>
<div style="text-align: justify; line-height: 120%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; background: white">This is a strange episode. The mysterious man was attempting to kill Jacob. Unable to achieve that, he goes for &ldquo;second best:&rdquo; he wounds him. Why would Jacob ask him for a blessing, saying &ldquo;Bless me?&rdquo; Is this how you bid farewell to a gangster who attempted to destroy you? </div>
<div style="text-align: justify; line-height: 120%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; background: white">&nbsp;</div>
<div style="text-align: justify; line-height: 120%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; background: white">But Jacob was teaching us the secret of Jewish identity and resilience. To be a Jew is to posses that unique ability to say to every crisis: &ldquo;I will not let you go until you bless me.&rdquo; I know that deep down your objective is to elevate me, to bring me to a higher place, to climb the mountain leading to the truth. If G-d is truly everywhere, it means that somehow G-d is within every challenge and crisis too; somehow you will propel me to emerge stronger, wiser, more blessed.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify; line-height: 120%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; background: white">&nbsp;</div>
<div style="text-align: justify; line-height: 120%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; background: white">The Miracle</div>
<div style="text-align: justify; line-height: 120%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt">&nbsp;</div>
<div style="text-align: justify; line-height: 120%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt">When that horrific illness came in the midst of night to wrestle Levi and kill him, he fought with tenaciousness and determination. He was determined to reach the break of dawn. The illness maimed him severely, yet he declared, time and time again, &ldquo;I will not let you go till you bless me.&rdquo; I will not only emerge triumphant, but I will grow from you. My life will prosper like never before. And wonder of wonders, days before his death, as the doctors shared their predictions, he still refused to blink. &ldquo;Nature and miracles are both a manifestation of Divine energy,&rdquo; he told me during those last days. &ldquo;The same Creator who gave me the illness can take it if He so desires.&rdquo; </div>
<div style="text-align: justify; line-height: 120%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt">&nbsp;</div>
<div style="text-align: justify; line-height: 120%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt">Doctors kept on saying he had a few days left. Each time, he surprised them. Yet at the end, G-d decided to take him. The miracle did not happen.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify; line-height: 120%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt">&nbsp;</div>
<div style="text-align: justify; line-height: 120%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt">And then I realized: Levi himself&mdash;he was the miracle. He did not let go, and in the process, all of us were blessed. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify; line-height: 120%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt">&nbsp;</div>
<div style="text-align: justify; line-height: 120%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt">Farewell my dear friend. With your life, we have all been enriched and blessed; with your passing, we are impoverished. I will miss you Levi.</div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify; line-height: 120%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt">&nbsp;</div>
<div style="text-align: justify; line-height: 120%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt">(To make a donation to the special family fund, please <a href="http://www.chabadtysons.com/templates/articlecco_cdo/aid/314852/jewish/Donate-to-Chabad.htm">click here</a>).</div>

Farewell to a Fighter - Jacob’s Secret Behind Jewish Resilience

917_351590.jpg

22_ki_savo_5770.pdf

pain

jacob

blessing

challenge

levi deitch

Jacob’s Secret Behind Jewish Resilience

Farewell to a Fighter

Whole, Broken, Whole - The Secret of the Shofar Sounds

907_broken.jpg

shofar

broken people

rosh hashanah

The Secret of the Shofar Sounds

Whole, Broken, Whole

The Jewish Perspective

Ammunition had run out for a unit in the Russian army, but it was still under fierce attack. “Take out your bayonets,” said the corporal, “we are going to engage the enemy in hand-to-hand combat.”

“Please sir,” said Pvt. Finkelstein. “Show me my man. Maybe he and I can reach some kind of agreement.”

The Survivor

Let me share a story<a onclick="ty.scrollTo('_ednref1')" id="_edn1" href="javascript: void(0);" name="_ftnref1">[1]</a>:

After the war, a Holocaust survivor came to visit his one-time spiritual master, the famed Rebbe of the Chassidic dynasty of Ger, Rabbi Avraham Mordechai Alter<a onclick="ty.scrollTo('_ednref2')" id="_edn2" href="javascript: void(0);" name="_ftnref2">[2]</a>. This broken Jew had been deported to the death camps together with his wife, children, relatives, and the entire community. The man's wife and children were gassed, his relatives exterminated and his entire community wiped out. He emerged from the ashes a lonely man in a vast world that had silently swallowed the blood of six million Jews. This Jew lost one more thing in the camps: his G-d. After what he experienced in the Nazi death camps, he could not continue believing in a G-d who allowed Auschwitz.

Although after the war he made aliyah to Eretz Israel (then known as Palestine), he completely abandoned Jewish practice and observance. Yet he missed his old Rebbe and went to visit him in Tel Aviv. The Gerer Rebbe himself lost many grandchildren and relatives in the Holocaust. In addition, nearly all of his 200,000 followers were wiped out by the Germans. The Rebbe of Ger and his immediate children managed to escape Warsaw in 1940 and arrived in Eretz Israel soon after.

Upon hearing the story of his disciple, the Rebbe of Ger broke into tears. The man and his Rebbe sat together mourning what they had lost. After a long period of weeping, the Gerer Rebbe wiped his tears and communicated—in Yiddish—the following idea.

"Before Your Eyes"

In his farewell address to his people, in the Torah portion of Eikev, Moses recounts the moment when he descended from Mount Sinai with the two Divine tablets to present to the Jewish people<a onclick="ty.scrollTo('_ednref3')" id="_edn3" href="javascript: void(0);" name="_ftnref3">[3]</a>:

"I descended from the mountain," Moses recalls, "the mountain was still burning with fire and the two tablets of the covenant were in my two hands. I immediately saw that you had sinned to G-d, making a calf. You were so quick to turn from the path that G-d had prescribed. "I grasped the two tablets, and threw them down from my two hands, and I smashed them before your eyes."

Moses proceeds to relate how after much toil he succeeded in “convincing” G-d to forgive the Jewish people for their sin. He then, as mentioned above, carved out a second pair of tablets to replace the first ones. Though the two sets were identical in content, containing the Ten Commandments, the second pair did not possess the same Divine quality as the first tablets, which were "G-d's handiwork and G-d's script<a onclick="ty.scrollTo('_ednref4')" id="_edn4" href="javascript: void(0);" name="_ftnref4">[4]</a>." The second tablets were Moses’ creation, endorsed by G-d, but not G-d’s own creation.

Now, considering the well-known meticulousness of each word in the Bible, Moses' words "I smashed them before your eyes" seem superfluous. Suppose Moses had turned around and broken the tablets out of view; would that in any way have lessened the tragedy? Why did Moses find it important to emphasize that the breaking of the tablets occurred "before your eyes"<a onclick="ty.scrollTo('_ednref5')" id="_edn5" href="javascript: void(0);" name="_ftnref5">[5]</a>?

Two Worlds

What Moses was saying, explained the Rebbe of Ger, was that "I smashed the tablets only before your eyes." The shattering of the tablets occurred only before your eyes and from your perception. In reality, though, there exists a world in which the tablets have never been broken.

What Moses was attempting to communicate, the Rebbe of Ger explained is that what may seem to us as utter destruction and chaos, does not always capture the complete story. "I smashed them before your eyes." Before your eyes, there is nothing but devastation. Yet, what in our world bespeaks total disaster may, in a different world, be wholesome.

“As difficult as it is to digest, the Gerer Rebbe went on to say, “there is meaning in the absurdness of history; there is dignity in the valley of tears. G-d—the G-d who transcends all human logic, understanding, and imagination—was present in our broken pieces."&nbsp;

"As difficult as it is for you and me to believe," the Rebbe concluded, "I want you to know that the extermination of our families, our communities, and our people occurred only 'before our eyes.' There remains a world in which the Jewish people are wholesome. Beneath the surface of our perception, there exists a reality in which every single Jew from Abraham till our present day is alive, his or her soul absolutely intact."&nbsp;

"The day will come," said the Rebbe of Ger, "when that world will be exposed. G-d will transform our perceptions and paradigms. He will mend our broken tablets and our broken nation. We will discover how the tablets were really never broken and the Jewish people were always complete."

These are words that could be effective only when communicated by a man who experienced the suffering of the&nbsp;war on his own flesh. Pain is not an intellectual subject; it is raw, personal, and real.&nbsp;When the Rebbe of Ger spoke these words, he spoke them with tears, with grief. He was not an objective preacher of religion; together with the Holocaust survivor, he walked through his tunnel of darkness. Thus, his words gave back to this broken Jew his soul, his faith, and his courage.

Shattered Dreams

Notwithstanding the grand distinctions, the above message&nbsp;applies&nbsp;to our lives as well. Many of us once owned a set of sacred tablets that at some point in our lives were destroyed. It may have been the death of a mother or father at a young age, bringing to an abrupt end the nurturing and security a child so desperately needs from parents. It may have been any other form of pain, abuse, or loss that you experienced during your life that denied you the love, confidence, joy, and optimism you once called your own. It may be profound fear, shame, insecurity, guilt, disappointment, mistrust, or other forms of emotional trauma that afflict you, shattering your inner sacred and Divine “tablets.”

Many of us create for ourselves a second pair of "tablets" in order to substitute for the first ones that were lost. But they are not quite the same. The second set of "tablets" lacks the magic and the innocence of the original "tablets" that no longer exist. In the depth of our hearts, we crave to reclaim something of the wonder of the old tablets.

But it is to no avail: The clock of life never turns back. Here lay the empowering message of Moses to his beloved people before his own demise: There is a secret world in which your first tablets were never broken. Notwithstanding the abuse and pain you experienced, each of you possesses a core self that forever remains invincible, pure, and sacred.

What is more,&nbsp;when your perception expands, you might discover how your shattered dreams may be part of your individual path to wholesomeness. Wholesomeness does not come in one shape; for some, it comes in the form of a broken heart. What is broken in one level of perception may be wholesome in another.

The Final Month

In a few days, we will commence the last month of the Hebrew calendar, known as the month of Elul, when we bid farewell to a year gone by, and prepare to embrace a new one in its stead, beginning on Rosh Hashanah.

The great sage and mystic Rabbi Nathan Shapiro (d. 1640 in Krakow, Poland) writes<a onclick="ty.scrollTo('_ednref6')" id="_edn6" href="javascript: void(0);" name="_ftnref6">[6]</a> that the four Hebrew letters of the name Elul (spelled Aleph, Lamed, Vuv, Lamed) is the acronym of the four Hebrew words “Aron, Luchos, V’shevrei, Luchos” (which also begin with the Hebrew letters Aleph, Lamed, Vuv, Lamed). These words, quoted from the Talmud<a onclick="ty.scrollTo('_ednref7')" id="_edn7" href="javascript: void(0);" name="_ftnref7">[7]</a>, mean this: “The Ark containing the whole tablets and the broken tablets.”

What does this mean? In the book of Exodus, the Torah captures the dramatic tale of how, following the Revelation at Sinai, G-d carved out two tablets, engraved the Ten Commandments on them, and presented them to Moses on Mount Sinai. When Moses descended the mountain, however, he observed that the Israelites had created a golden calf as an idol. Seeing this, Moses threw the tablets from his hands and smashed them on the ground. After a powerful confrontation with G-d, Moses persuades Him, as it were, to forgive the Jewish people for their betrayal. Moses then, acting on G-d’s instructions, carves out a second pair of tablets, to replace the smashed first ones. When the Ark was built to be located inside the holiest chamber in the Tabernacle the Jews erected in the desert, both sets of tablets were placed therein: the second whole pair of tablets, as well as the fragmented pieces of the first smashed tablets<a onclick="ty.scrollTo('_ednref8')" id="_edn8" href="javascript: void(0);" name="_ftnref8">[8]</a>.

But what is the connection to the month of Elul? Why does the name of this month symbolize this idea of the Ark containing both sets of Tablets, the complete ones, and the broken ones?

The above story can provide insight. The unique power of the final month of the year, the name of which spells out the words “The Ark containing the whole Tablets and the broken Tablets” is this: This is the month that allows you to build in your personal life an “ark” which will contain not only your second complete tablets but will also embrace the broken pieces of your first tablets. This is the time when you are empowered and can pick up the broken pieces of your life and discover that there is a part&nbsp;of yourself that was never really broken.

What is more, during this month you may lift up with tender love every broken component of your life, learning how each of them constituted another hue of wholesomeness.

(Please make even a small and secure contribution to help us continue our work.&nbsp;<a href="http://www.theyeshiva.net/donate">Click here.</a>)&nbsp;

____________

<a onclick="ty.scrollTo('_edn1')" id="_ednref1" href="javascript: void(0);" name="_ftn1">[1]</a> I read the story in a sermon by Rabbi Moshe&nbsp;Weinberger shlita, spiritual leader of Aish Kodesh Institute in Woodmere,&nbsp;N.Y. Afterward I heard it from an elder Gerer Chassid who visited the Imrei Emes as a young man in Poland before the war. Another Gerer Chassid told me that this insight was presented by the Gerer Rebbe at a prayer gathering in the middle of the Holocaust, on 20 Kislev, 5703, in the "Churvah."

<a onclick="ty.scrollTo('_edn2')" id="_ednref2" href="javascript: void(0);" name="_ftn2">[2]</a> Rabbi Avraham Mordechai (born in 1866), known as the Imrei Emes, was the third Rebbe of Ger and passed away in 1948 in Jerusalem. The city was under siege at the time, so he was buried in the courtyard of his yeshiva.

<a onclick="ty.scrollTo('_edn3')" id="_ednref3" href="javascript: void(0);" name="_ftn3">[3]</a> Deuteronomy 9:15-17.

<a onclick="ty.scrollTo('_edn4')" id="_ednref4" href="javascript: void(0);" name="_ftn4">[4]</a> Exodus 32:16.

<a onclick="ty.scrollTo('_edn5')" id="_ednref5" href="javascript: void(0);" name="_ftn5">[5]</a> Cf. Abarbanel to Deuteronomy 9:17. Likkutei Sichos vol. 9 p. 241; vol. 26 p. 252. My gratitude to Shmuel Levin, a writer and editor in Pittsburgh, for his editorial assistance.

<a onclick="ty.scrollTo('_edn6')" id="_ednref6" href="javascript: void(0);" name="_ftn6">[6]</a> Sefer Megaleh Amukos.

<a onclick="ty.scrollTo('_edn7')" id="_ednref7" href="javascript: void(0);" name="_ftn7">[7]</a> Bava Basra 14b.

<a onclick="ty.scrollTo('_edn8')" id="_ednref8" href="javascript: void(0);" name="_ftn8">[8]</a> On a literal level the connection is this: On the 29th of Av, at the end of Moses’ second 40-day period on Mount Sinai, G-d agreed to give the second set of tablets to Israel. The following day Moses ascended again, and remained on the mountain throughout the month of Elul. On Yom Kippur he descended with the new set of tablets (Rashi to Exodus).

The Survivor - How a Rebbe Helped a Survivor Embrace His Fragments

903_survivor.jpg

22_tisha_bav_5770-2.pdf

broken tablets

first tablets

holocaust survivor

imrei emes

failure

How a Rebbe Helped a Survivor Embrace His Fragments

Essay Parshas Eikev/Elul

Never Broken

The Economist

An architect, a surgeon, and economist&nbsp;are arguing who of them holds the most prominent position.&nbsp;

The surgeon said, 'Look, we're the most important. The very first thing G-d did was&nbsp;surgery:&nbsp;to extract Eve from Adam's rib.'&nbsp;

The architect said, 'No, wait a minute, G-d is an architect&nbsp;first and foremost. G-d made the world in six&nbsp;days out of chaos.'&nbsp;

The economist smiled, 'And&nbsp;who made the chaos?’&nbsp;

The Dual Canopy&nbsp;&nbsp;

"On the day the Tabernacle was erected, the cloud covered the Tabernacle," the Bible records in the Torah portion of&nbsp;Behaalosecha<a id="_edn1" href="javascript: void(0);" onclick="ty.scrollTo('_ednref1')">[1]</a>. "Then, in the evening, there would be upon the Tabernacle like a fiery glow till morning."&nbsp;&nbsp;

"From then on it remained that way," the Torah continues. "The cloud would cover it [by day] and a glow of fire by night<a id="_edn2" href="javascript: void(0);" onclick="ty.scrollTo('_ednref2')">[2]</a>."&nbsp;&nbsp;

Two points require clarification. First: What was the significance and purpose of this dual miraculous canopy that hovered over the Tabernacle in the desert -- a cloud during the day and a glowing flame during the night<a id="_edn3" href="javascript: void(0);" onclick="ty.scrollTo('_ednref3')">[3]</a>?&nbsp;&nbsp;

Second: Like every episode recorded in the Torah, this one, too, contains a spiritual interpretation that continuously plays itself out in journeys of the human spirit. How can we apply the story of this Tabernacle canopy to our lives today?&nbsp;

Smugness&nbsp;Vs. Despair&nbsp;

The Tabernacle was the edifice erected by the people of&nbsp;Israel&nbsp;in the Sinai desert to serve as a home for the Divine presence. In Jewish writings, the Tabernacle represents the place in the human heart where the light of G-d resides<a id="_edn4" href="javascript: void(0);" onclick="ty.scrollTo('_ednref4')">[4]</a>. The Tabernacle, then, exists timelessly within the human soul.&nbsp;&nbsp;

This sacred and noble place within us&nbsp;must include both a cloud by day and a fire by night.&nbsp;Each person experiences in his or her life "days" and "nights" -- moments of light and moments of darkness, times of happiness and contentment as well as times of agony and turmoil. For some, the days are longer than the nights; for others the nights sadly exceed the days. Yet most humans possess a share of both realities.&nbsp;&nbsp;

When things are going well for us -- when we're paying the bills nicely, the kids are healthy, our spouses are there for us and we're satisfied with our lot -- we often forget how vulnerable we really are in this world. We tend to become smug, complacent and desensitized. We often become apathetic to other people's pain. We don't feel the need for genuine friendships, and certainly not for a relationship with G-d. We&nbsp;don't feel the urgent need to be real.&nbsp;At moments of bliss people often feel that they are on top of the world and they do not need anybody. They forget their humaneness and simplicity.&nbsp;&nbsp;

On the other hand, when things become (heaven forbid) difficult and painful&nbsp;–&nbsp;your company “is in&nbsp;der&nbsp;erd” (Yiddish for “is in the ground”),&nbsp;a loss in the family, illness of a loved one, a marriage goes sour, the bank is after us, our children are not doing well or we are overcome by inner mental or physical challenges -- we often fall prey to feelings of despair and loneliness. We sink into the morass of life's hardships, as we say to ourselves, "it's dark and it's getting darker."&nbsp;

Maintain Perspective&nbsp;

Thus, the Torah teaches us a movingly profound lesson.&nbsp;&nbsp;

If you are to become a human Tabernacle, if you wish to discover the grace of G-d within your heart, you must recall the darker cloud hovering above you even during times of brightness and splendor. A person must always remember that ultimately he cannot claim ownership over anything in his life: Life is a gift, love is gift, health is a gift, relationships are gifts, parents are gifts and children are gifts.&nbsp;Financial success, too, is not a natural symptom of your brilliant investments; it is a gift.&nbsp;One ought never to become blind to the truth that everything can change in a single instance<a id="_edn5" href="javascript: void(0);" onclick="ty.scrollTo('_ednref5')">[5]</a> and that there is so much pain in the world. When you remember the clouds, you will never become arrogant, detached and false.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

On the other hand, when night falls upon us, when life exposes its painful and darker side to us, we need to recall the glowing light hovering above us. We must remember that every experience we endure&nbsp;is part of our&nbsp;life's&nbsp;mission to serve G-d under these circumstances and&nbsp;to transform the world into a home for goodness and G-dliness. Every challenge contains an opportunity for deeper awareness, growth, and rebirth; it invites us into a deeper relationship with our soul and our G-d. Each cloud contains a flame within.&nbsp;

Judaism's&nbsp;Mission&nbsp;Statement&nbsp;

This is the powerful significance behind the mitzvah, the Jewish tradition, to recite twice each day the&nbsp;Shema&nbsp;Yisroel, the most reverent Jewish prayer, once in the morning and once in the evening.&nbsp;&nbsp;

When dawn breaks and the sun&nbsp;emerges&nbsp;to embrace us with its warmth, we state: "Hear O Israel, the Lord is our G-d, the Lord is One." Each of us is essentially a reflection of G-d, a recipient of His grace. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

When night falls and darkness makes its way into our lives, we once again declare: "Hear O Israel, the Lord is our G-d, the Lord is One." G-d is one means that the same G-d&nbsp;Who&nbsp;was present during the "day," is also present during the "night." Darkness is painful, but it, too, must become part of a dynamic relationship with life and with G-d<a id="_edn6" href="javascript: void(0);" onclick="ty.scrollTo('_ednref6')">[6]</a>.&nbsp;

The Breaking of the Glass&nbsp;

This is also the mystical reason for the enigmatic Jewish custom to break a glass under the wedding canopy (the&nbsp;Chupah) at the moment when the groom and the bride are about to enter into a private room and celebrate their union, and the guests are about to begin feasting and dancing.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

Granted, we break a glass during a marriage ceremony to remember the destruction of&nbsp;Jerusalem&nbsp;and all of the broken hearts in the world. But couldn't we do the breaking a little earlier, during the more solemn moments of the ceremony? Must we, at the happiest moment of a bride and a groom, introduce sadness and melancholy?&nbsp;&nbsp;

The answer: Those who at the peak of their personal joy remember the pain that is still present in the outside world, will, at the moment of their pain, remember the joy out there in the world. On the other hand, those who at a moment of a personal high, become totally submerged in their own mood and are indifferent to the broken hearts around them, then, when struck by pain and hardship, they will remain stuck in their own quagmire, unable to reach out and glean hope and inspiration from the laughter and joy still present in the world<a id="_edn7" href="javascript: void(0);" onclick="ty.scrollTo('_ednref7')">[7]</a>.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Thus, the Torah states: "From then on it remained that&nbsp;way,&nbsp;the cloud would cover it [by day] and a glow of fire by night." This is an eternal directive. During your days, look up to the clouds; during your nights, gaze up to the fire.&nbsp;&nbsp;

And if during your days, you will remember the clouds, then during your nights you will remember the flame<a id="_edn8" href="javascript: void(0);" onclick="ty.scrollTo('_ednref8')">[8]</a>.

<a id="_ednref1" href="javascript: void(0);" onclick="ty.scrollTo('_edn1')">[1]</a> Numbers 9:15.&nbsp;

<a id="_ednref2" href="javascript: void(0);" onclick="ty.scrollTo('_edn2')">[2]</a> Ibid. 9:16.&nbsp;

<a id="_ednref3" href="javascript: void(0);" onclick="ty.scrollTo('_edn3')">[3]</a> It is clear that the cloud did not serve as a shield from the hot son burning in the desert. First, the entire dwelling place of the Jews was constantly surrounded by "clouds of glory" (see, for example, Leviticus&nbsp;23:43 and&nbsp;Rashi&nbsp;ibid; Talmud&nbsp;Sukah&nbsp;11b.). It is also clear from the commentary of&nbsp;Ramban&nbsp;on this verse that the cloud did not serve the purpose.&nbsp;

The Or&nbsp;HaChaim&nbsp;ibid. presents a twofold explanation for the existence of the hovering cloud during daytime from the literal point a view. What follows is the spiritual explanation of a metaphysical and timeless tale.&nbsp;&nbsp;

<a id="_ednref4" href="javascript: void(0);" onclick="ty.scrollTo('_edn4')">[4]</a> See&nbsp;Alshich&nbsp;to&nbsp;Terumah&nbsp;25:8.&nbsp;Reishis&nbsp;Chachmah&nbsp;Portal of Love chapter 6.&nbsp;Shalah&nbsp;69a; 201a; 325b; 326b.&nbsp;Likkutei&nbsp;Torah&nbsp;Naso&nbsp;20b.&nbsp;

<a id="_ednref5" href="javascript: void(0);" onclick="ty.scrollTo('_edn5')">[5]</a> See the commentary of Even Ezra to Ecclesiastes 7:14.&nbsp;&nbsp;

<a id="_ednref6" href="javascript: void(0);" onclick="ty.scrollTo('_edn6')">[6]</a> See&nbsp;Sichas&nbsp;24&nbsp;Teves&nbsp;5704 (Published in&nbsp;Toras&nbsp;Yemei&nbsp;Bereshis).&nbsp;

<a id="_ednref7" href="javascript: void(0);" onclick="ty.scrollTo('_edn7')">[7]</a> Heard from my brother Simon Jacobson, in the name of the&nbsp;Lubavitcher&nbsp;Rebbe.&nbsp;

<a id="_ednref8" href="javascript: void(0);" onclick="ty.scrollTo('_edn8')">[8]</a> This essay is based on the writings of the Chassidic masters, see L'torah&nbsp;U'lmoadim&nbsp;by Rabbi S.Y.&nbsp;Zevin&nbsp;Parshas&nbsp;Behaaloscah.

How to Deal with Economic Challenge - The &quot;days&quot; and &quot;nights&quot; of life

847_recession-cartoon.jpg

22_bamidbar.pdf

stress

clowds

challenges

shmas yisroel

behaaloscha

The "days" and "nights" of life

Essay Behaaloscha

How to Deal with Economic Challenge

Free Plowing

Back in the '40s, a Jewish guy was arrested for smuggling guns into Israel, then known as Palestine. He was taken into one of the British prisons. While there, his wife writes him a letter decrying what a shlemazel he is.

"Spring is coming and with you rotting in jail who will provide? Who will plow the soil?"

The man comes up with an idea. He sends an urgent letter to his wife saying: "Please, my dear, whatever you do, don't touch the field this year. All my M1 rifles are hidden in the field!"

Sure enough, the letter is intercepted and the British take this very seriously. The next morning at 6 a.m. there are 200 armed guards at the man's fields waiting for dawn to break. As the sun rises, they attack the field with shovels and rakes, leaving no rock unturned.

When news gets back to the inmate, he writes a letter to his wife: "My dear, now that they have plowed the field, it is time to plant seeds!"

Enthralled by Wells

It seems that our Patriarchs, the Founding Fathers of Judaism, were enthralled with wellsprings.&nbsp;First, the Torah tells us of Abraham's involvement in well-digging and his rebuke to the king of the Philistines for allowing his servants to seize one of his wells.<a href="javascript: void(0);" id="_edn1" onclick="ty.scrollTo('_ednref1')">[1]</a>&nbsp;Abraham performs an elaborate ceremony with the king, during which the king swears&nbsp;that the well would remain in Abraham's possession<a href="javascript: void(0);" id="_edn2" onclick="ty.scrollTo('_ednref2')">[2]</a>.

But Abraham's association with wells pales in comparison to his son Isaac's connection to wells. First, we learn that he is a frequent visitor at a spring&nbsp;named “Lachai Roei,” where he meets his bride and later settles<a href="javascript: void(0);" id="_edn3" onclick="ty.scrollTo('_ednref3')">[3]</a>.

Isaac then engages in relentless digging to uncover underground springs. He reclaims the wells that his father dug but that were plugged after Abraham's death. In addition, we read of at least another four wells that Isaac's servants dig anew. We are even told the names Isaac granted his wells and of the battles&nbsp;he fought to hold on to them<a href="javascript: void(0);" id="_edn4" onclick="ty.scrollTo('_ednref4')">[4]</a>!

When the Torah describes in next week's portion his journey from Israel to the East, it tells us<a href="javascript: void(0);" id="_edn5" onclick="ty.scrollTo('_ednref5')">[5]</a>&nbsp;that "Jacob looked and behold, a well in the field!" Jacob spends time at the well, and it is there that he encounters and decides to marry his wife-to-be, Rachel<a href="javascript: void(0);" id="_edn6" onclick="ty.scrollTo('_ednref6')">[6]</a>.

Why were the fathers of the Jewish people so connected to wells? And why does the Torah, a book of instruction and teachings, a roadmap for life, dedicate a significant part of this week's portion Toldos to discuss the details of Isaac's struggles to discover wellsprings?

Two Water Sources

In Jewish thought, water represents wisdom and inspiration<a href="javascript: void(0);" id="_edn7" onclick="ty.scrollTo('_ednref7')">[7]</a>.&nbsp;Just as water quenches the thirst of an arid body, rejuvenating its spirit and resuscitating its energy, the gifts of wisdom and enlightenment refresh a soul and grant it inspiration and vitality.

We have two sources of water in our world. The waters above the ground—oceans, rivers, lakes, streams, and rain, and water that flows below the earth, covered by grit. These latter waters seep out from sand and gravel, from amid soluble rocks and cleavage planes, as they struggle to emerge from beneath the earth that conceals them.

One would assume that the restricted flow of water fighting to emerge from rock and gravel would be inferior to the unrestricted and smooth beds of water that lay above the ground. Yet the reality is that there is something uniquely refreshing and clear about spring water. The very fact that these waters are hidden beneath the ground keeps them free from pollution and germs and grants them a freshness and sparkle not to be found in the above-ground waters. Plus, the journey through rocks filters and refines these waters, so rich in minerals and nutrients.&nbsp;

Two Sources of Inspiration

The two sources of physical waters in our world parallel two sources of wisdom and inspiration in our lives.

There is the wisdom and inspiration born above the mess of life's challenges. It comes to lucid people at lucid moments; it is straightforward, easy, and smooth. These are the waters that emerge from the hearts of pristine spiritual individuals; men and women unsoiled by filth and muck.&nbsp;

But then there is the wisdom that emerges from life's grime, from amid struggle, pain, and failure; there is the clarity and passion born from hearts tarnished by toxicity. When a person, burdened by the daily pressures of earning a livelihood and raising a family,&nbsp;bogged down by trauma, fears, and anxiety; when a human being troubled by his earthly nature and his immoral urges, bursts out with a yearning to transcend his dirt and connect to Truth -- this small, restricted flow of water seeping out from a sandy and rocky psyche is more refreshing and potent than all of the serene waters located above the “ground.”

When a Jew, feeling so distant, engages in a Mitzvah, cries out to G-d in yearning, or makes one move to excavate the inner faith, resilience and idealism that lay buried in his or her soul, he or she connected to this spring of Divine infinity flowing deep below our earthiness. This is the most sparkling and refreshing water to the soul, to the universe, and to G-d. 

This is why the fathers of the Jewish people were digging and preserving wells. They taught us to fight for and to cherish those moments of truth, fleeting as they are, and those small sparks of idealism, buried within the deep rubble of trauma and confusion.

For this is the purpose of life, to discover heaven within the earth, to find your springs of joy, confidence, and wholesomeness that always flow beneath your surface.<a href="javascript: void(0);" id="_edn8" onclick="ty.scrollTo('_ednref8')">[8]</a>

<a href="javascript: void(0);" id="_ednref1" onclick="ty.scrollTo('_edn1')">[1]</a> Genesis 21:25.

<a href="javascript: void(0);" id="_ednref2" onclick="ty.scrollTo('_edn2')">[2]</a> Ibid. 21:30. This ceremony and the oath taken by the two parties at the location is the origin of the name of the City Beer Sheba, where this ceremony was performed. Beer Sheba means "the oath of the well."

<a href="javascript: void(0);" id="_ednref3" onclick="ty.scrollTo('_edn3')">[3]</a> Genesis 24:62. Cf. ibid. 25:11

<a href="javascript: void(0);" id="_ednref4" onclick="ty.scrollTo('_edn4')">[4]</a> Ibid. chapter 26.

<a href="javascript: void(0);" id="_ednref5" onclick="ty.scrollTo('_edn5')">[5]</a> Ibid.&nbsp;29:2.

<a href="javascript: void(0);" id="_ednref6" onclick="ty.scrollTo('_edn6')">[6]</a> &nbsp;Also&nbsp;Eliezer, the servant of Abraham, stopped at a well, where he found a bride for Isaac. Moses too discovers his wife-to-be, Tzeporah, at a well. Even Adam and Eve begin their life in the garden irrigated by a river.&nbsp;

<a href="javascript: void(0);" id="_ednref7" onclick="ty.scrollTo('_edn7')">[7]</a> See, for example, Bava Kama 17a. Tanya chapter 4.

<a href="javascript: void(0);" id="_ednref8" onclick="ty.scrollTo('_edn8')">[8]</a> This essay is based on a discourse by Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi (1745-1812), the founder of Chabad, in his book Torah Or Parshas Toldos, Maamar Vayachperu, p. 20.

The Sandy Path to Inspiration: Why Were the Founding Fathers of Judaism Enthralled by Wells?

869_sand_water.jpg

22_vayelech_5771.pdf

wells

water

struggle

wallsprings

digging wells

Why Were the Founding Fathers of Judaism Enthralled by Wells?

Essay Toldos

The Sandy Path to Inspiration

In disguise

There were two beggars sitting side by side on a street in Mexico City. One was dressed like a Christian with a cross in front of him; the other one was a Chassidic Jew with a black coat and a long beard. Many people walked by, looked at both beggars, and then put money into the hat of the one sitting behind the cross.&nbsp; After hours of this pattern, a priest approached the Jewish Chassidic beggar and said: "Don't you understand? This is a Catholic country. People aren't going to give you money if you sit there like a real Jew, especially when you're sitting beside a beggar who has a cross. In fact, they would probably give him just out of spite."

The Chassidic beggar listened to the priest and, turning to the other beggar dressed as a Christian, said: "Moshe... look who's trying to teach us marketing."

A brother’s identity disclosed

The story of Joseph revealing himself to his brothers after decades of bitter separation is, no doubt, one of the most dramatic in the entire Torah. Twenty-two years earlier, when Joseph was seventeen years old, his brothers despising their younger kin, kidnapped him, threw him into a pit, and then sold him as a slave to Egyptian merchants. In Egypt, he spent twelve years in prison, from where he rose to become viceroy of the country that was the superpower at the time. Now, more than two decades later, the moment was finally ripe for reconciliation.

"Joseph could not hold in his emotions," the Torah relates in this week's portion<a href="javascript: void(0);" id="_edn1" onclick="ty.scrollTo('_ednref1')">[1]</a>. “He dismissed all of his Egyptian assistants from his chamber, thus, no one else was present with Joseph when he revealed himself to his brothers. He began to weep with such loud sobs that the Egyptians outside could hear him. And Joseph said to his brothers: 'I am Joseph! Is my father still alive?' His brothers were so horrified that they could not respond.

“Joseph said to his brothers, ‘please come close to me’. When they approached him, he said, ‘I am Joseph your brother – it is me whom you sold into Egypt.

“’Now, be not distressed, nor reproach yourself for having sold me here, for it was to be a provider that G-d sent me ahead of you…G-d has sent me ahead of you to ensure your survival in the land and to sustain you for a momentous deliverance.”

Analyzing the encounter

Emotions are not mathematical equations that could or should be subjected to academic scrutiny and analysis (besides, perhaps, in your shrink’s office). Emotions, the texture through which we experience life in all of its majesty and tragedy, profess independent “rules” and a singular language, quite distinct of the calculated and structured ones of science.&nbsp;

Yet we still feel compelled to tune-into the particular phraseology employed by the Torah in describing this powerfully charged encounter when Joseph reveals his identity to his brothers.

Four observations&nbsp;come to mind<a href="javascript: void(0);" id="_edn2" onclick="ty.scrollTo('_ednref2')">[2]</a>.

1) After Joseph exposes his identity to his brothers, he asks them to come close to him. Despite the fact that they were alone with him in a private room, Joseph wants them to approach even closer. At this moment we are expecting Joseph to share with his brothers an intimate secret. But that does not seem to come.

2) After they approach him, Joseph says, “I am Joseph your brother – it is me whom you sold into Egypt.” But he has already told them that he was Joseph!

3) Why did Joseph feel compelled to inform them that they sold him to the Egyptians, as though they were unaware of what they had done to their little brother? Why could he not immediately begin his explanation as to why they need not reproach themselves for selling him?

4) The first time Joseph discloses himself he does not define himself as their brother; yet when he repeats himself again he does mention the sense of brotherhood, “I am Joseph your brother.” Why the difference?

The unrecognized soul

The longest unbroken narrative in the entire Torah is from Genesis 37 to 50, and there can be no doubt that its hero is Joseph. The story begins and ends with him. We see him as a child, orphaned by his mother and beloved by his father; as an adolescent dreamer, resented by his brothers; as a slave, then a prisoner, in Egypt; then as the second most powerful figure in the greatest empire of the ancient world. At every stage, the narrative revolves around him and his impact on others. He dominates the last third of the book Genesis, casting his shadow on everybody else. Throughout the entire Bible, there is nobody we come to know as intimately as Joseph. The Torah seems to be infatuated with Joseph and his journeys and struggles more than with any other figure, perhaps even more than with the two pillars of the Jewish faith, Abraham and Moses. What is the mystique behind Joseph? Who is Joseph?

Joseph’s life embodies the entire drama and paradox of human existence. Joseph on the outside was not the Joseph on the inside; his outer behavior never did justice to his authentic inner grace. Already as a young teen, his brothers could not appreciate the depth and nobility of his character. The Midrash<a href="javascript: void(0);" id="_edn3" onclick="ty.scrollTo('_ednref3')">[3]</a> understands The Torah’s description of Joseph at the age of seventeen as a “young boy” to indicate that he devoted much time to fixing his hair, grooming his eyes, and measuring his every step. Joseph appeared to most people around him as spoiled and pompous.

Then, when Joseph rose to become the vizier of Egypt, he donned the persona of a charismatic statesman, a handsome, charming, and powerful young leader, a skilled diplomat, and a savvy politician with great ambition. It was not easy to realize that beneath these qualities lay a soul on fire with moral passion, a kindred spirit for whom the monotheistic legacy of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob remained the epicenter of his life; a heart overwhelmed with love toward G-d. A young slave in a foreign country, he will not betray his moral integrity even in the face of profound temptation. Throughout his life's journey, he is filled with joy, faith, and resilience, as the Torah emphasises again and again.

Joseph’s life&nbsp;is poignantly expressed in one biblical verse<a href="javascript: void(0);" id="_edn4" onclick="ty.scrollTo('_ednref4')">[4]</a>: "Joseph recognized his brothers but they did not recognize him." Joseph easily identified the holiness within his brothers. After all, they lived most of their lives isolated as spiritual shepherds involved in prayer, meditation, and study.

Yet these very brothers lacked the ability to discern the moral richness etched in the depth of Joseph's heart. Even when Joseph was living with them in Israel, they saw him as an outsider, as a danger to the integrity of the family of Israel. Certainly, when they encountered him in the form of an Egyptian leader, they failed to observe beyond the mask of a savvy politician the heart of a Tzaddik, the soul of a Rebbe.

The fire in the coal

This dual identity that characterized Joseph's life played itself out in a most powerful way when his master's wife attempted to seduce him into intimate relations. On the outside, she thought, it would not be very difficult to entice a young abandoned slave into sacrificing his moral integrity for the sake of attention, romance, and fun. But, when push came to shove, when Joseph was presented with the test of tests, he displayed heroic courage as he resisted and fled her home. As a result of that act, he ended up in prison for 12 years.

The Midrash<a href="javascript: void(0);" id="_edn5" onclick="ty.scrollTo('_ednref5')">[5]</a> compares Joseph to the fresh wellspring of water hidden in the depth of the earth, eclipsed by layers of debris&nbsp;and gravel. In a converse metaphor making the identical point, the Kabbalah sees Joseph as the blaze hidden within the coal. On the outside, the coal seems&nbsp;cold; but when you expose yourself to its true texture, you sense the heat, the fire, and the passion. You get burnt.

Disclosure

And then came the moment when Joseph removed his mask.

The Zohar, the basic Kabbalistic commentary on the Bible, presents a penetrating visualization of what transpired at the moment when Joseph exposed himself to his brothers.

When Joseph declared, “I am Joseph,” says the Zohar<a href="javascript: void(0);" id="_edn6" onclick="ty.scrollTo('_ednref6')">[6]</a>, the brothers observed the divine light radiating from his countenance; they witnessed the majestic glow emanating from his heart. Joseph’s words “I am Joseph” were not merely a revelation of who he was, but also of what he was. For the first time in their lives, Joseph allowed his brothers to see what he really was. “I&nbsp;am Joseph!” must also be understood in the sense of “Look at me, and you will discover who Joseph is.”

When Joseph cried out “I am Joseph,” says the Midrash, “his face became ablaze like a fiery furnace.” The burning flame concealed for thirty-nine years within the coal emerged in its full dazzling splendor. For the first time in their entire lives, Joseph’s brothers saw the raw and naked Joseph; they came in contact with the greatest holiness in the world emerging from the face of an Egyptian vizier…

Loss

“His brothers were so horrified that they could not respond,” relates the Torah. What perturbed the brothers was not so much a sense of fear or personal guilt. What horrified them more than anything else was the sense of loss they felt for themselves and the entire world as a result of his sale into Egypt.

“If after spending 22 years in a morally depraved society,” they thought to themselves, “one year as a slave, twelve years as a prisoner, nine years as a politician -- Joseph still retained such profound holiness and passion, how much holier might he have been if he spent these 22 years in the bosom of his saintly father Jacob?!”

“What a loss to history our actions brought about!” the brothers tormented themselves. “If Joseph could have spent all these years in the transcended oasis, in the sacred environment, in the spiritual island of the Patriarch Jacob – how the world might have been enriched with such an atomic glow of holiness in its midst!”

Contrasting Joseph’s present condition to what might have been his potential, left the brothers with an irreplaceable loss by what they sensed was a missed opportunity of historic proportions.

The error

At this moment, “Joseph said to his brothers, ‘Please come close to me’.” Joseph wanted them to approach even closer and gaze deeper into the divine light coming forth from his countenance.

“When they approached him,” relates the Torah, “He said, ‘I am Joseph your brother – it is me whom you sold into Egypt.” Joseph was not merely repeating what he had told them earlier (“I am Joseph”), nor was he informing them of a fact they were well aware of (“It is me whom you sold into Egypt”), rather, he was responding to their sense of irrevocable loss.

The words “I am Joseph your brother – it is me whom you sold into Egypt” in the original Hebrew can also be translated as “I am Joseph your brother – because you sold me into Egypt.” What Joseph was stating was the powerfully moving message that the only reason he reached such tremendous spiritual heights is because he spent the last 22 years in Egypt, not in Jacob’s sacred environment.<a href="javascript: void(0);" id="_edn7" onclick="ty.scrollTo('_ednref7')">[7]</a>

The great catalyst

The awesome glow that emanated from his presence, Joseph suggested, was not there despite his two decades in lowly Egyptian society, far removed from his father’s celestial paradise; it came precisely as a result of his entanglement with a life alien to the innocent and straightforward path of his brothers. The incredible trials, tribulations and adversity he faced in the spiritual jungle are precisely what unleashed the atomic glow the brothers were presently taking in.

Had Joseph spent the two decades voyaging with his father down the paved road of psychological and spiritual transparency and lucidity, he would have certainly reached great intellectual and emotional heights. But it was only through his confrontation with a glaring abyss that gave Joseph that singular majesty, passion and power that defied even the rich imagination of his brothers.

That is why Joseph asked his brothers to come closer to him, so that they can behold from closer up his unique light and appreciate that this was a light that could only emerge from the depth of darkness, from the pit of Egyptian promiscuity.

[This is also the reason for Joseph mentioning, the second time around, the element of brotherhood. For Joseph was attempting not only to tell them who he was, but to share the reality of their kinship, the fact that he, like them, was deeply connected to his spiritual roots].

If only…

Just as the brothers, many of us, too, live our lives thinking “If only…” If only my circumstances would have been different; if only I was born into a different type of family; if only I would have a better personality… The eternal lesson of Joseph is that the individual journey of your life, in all of its ups and downs, is what will ultimately allow you to discover your unique place in this world as a servant of G-d.

The Forest

"The sea was much better," the traveler complained. "Whenever I got tired it at least had its currents to push me forward on my journey but you," he looked at the vast desert surrounding him, "you are of no help."

He went down on his knees, dead tired. When his breaths restored back to normalcy, a while later, he heard the desert's voice.

"I agree. I am of no help like the sea and thus I often depress people. But do you really think people will remember you for crossing the sea? Never! For the sea doesn't allow you to leave any mark. I, on the contrary, do. Thus, if you cross me, I swear, you will in turn immortalize yourself with the imprints you leave over me!"

The traveler got the essence and got up to walk on. "It's always about the imprints," his heart echoed<a href="javascript: void(0);" id="_edn8" onclick="ty.scrollTo('_ednref8')">[8]</a>.

<a href="javascript: void(0);" id="_ednref1" onclick="ty.scrollTo('_edn1')">[1]</a> Genesis 45:1-7.

<a href="javascript: void(0);" id="_ednref2" onclick="ty.scrollTo('_edn2')">[2]</a> The following observations are discussed by many of the biblical commentators, who offer various explanations (See Midrash Rabah, Rashi, Ramban, Klei Yakar Or Hachaim).

<a href="javascript: void(0);" id="_ednref3" onclick="ty.scrollTo('_edn3')">[3]</a> Midrash Rabah Bereishis 84:7. Quoted in Rashi to Genesis 37:2.

<a href="javascript: void(0);" id="_ednref4" onclick="ty.scrollTo('_edn4')">[4]</a> Genesis 42:8.

<a href="javascript: void(0);" id="_ednref5" onclick="ty.scrollTo('_edn5')">[5]</a> Midrash Rabah ibid. 93:3.

<a href="javascript: void(0);" id="_ednref6" onclick="ty.scrollTo('_edn6')">[6]</a> Zohar vol. 1 p. 93b.

<a href="javascript: void(0);" id="_ednref7" onclick="ty.scrollTo('_edn7')">[7]</a> The Sefas Emes movingly interprets the Hebrew phrase used by Joseph “asher mechartem,” that it is similar to the term “asher shebarta,” meaning “yasher koach shesebarta,” thank you for breaking the tablets, and thank you for selling me to Egypt.

<a href="javascript: void(0);" id="_ednref8" onclick="ty.scrollTo('_edn8')">[8]</a> This essay is based on Chassidic writings: See Sefas Emes Parshas Vayigash. See further Sefer Halikkutim under the entry of Yosef; Sefer Letorah U’Lemoadim (by Rabbi Shlomo Yosef Zevin) Parshas Vayigash (p. 60-61); Likkutei Sichos vol. 25 pp. 255-257.

I Am Joseph - The Light Born of Life&#39;s Challenges

1156_pyle-0.jpg

yosef

yosef and his brothers

brothers selling joseph

life challenges

The Light Born of Life's Challenges

Essay Vayigash

I Am Joseph

This is a lecture presented by Rabbi YY Jacobson to "Avnei Chein,"&nbsp;an Israel-based organization of "precious people helping precious people," supporting&nbsp; patients, and their families, with&nbsp; Mental Health Crisis: <a href="https://www.avneichein.org/">avneichein.org</a>
Rabbi YY addressed therapists, as well as struggling individuals and their loved ones.

mental_health_webinar_edited.mp4

9426-lecture-to-avnei-chein-israel-the-stigma-of-mental-health-the-guilt-shame-and-pain.jpg

We Get Three Special Chances in Our Lifetime to Confront Our Coping Mechanisms

Lecture To Avnei Chein, Israel

The Stigma of Mental Health: The Guilt, Shame, and Pain

The Stigma of Mental Health: The Guilt, Shame, and Pain

We Get Three Special Chances in Our Lifetime to Confront Our Coping Mechanisms

Class Summary:

Categories

Related Classes

Please help us continue our work

Sign up to receive latest content by Rabbi YY

Ways to get content by Rabbi YY Jacobson