Transcript
Good morning, בוקר טוב Boker tov, welcome back to partial perspectives for today. We have the privilege of learning together פרשת ויצא Parshas Vayeitzei and extracting and applying all of its lessons for our lives. I want to thank our generous series sponsors, Becky and Avi Katz and family in loving memory of Becky's father David Grossman. Our learning should be לעילוי נשמת le'iluy nishmas דוד בן מנחם מנוש Dovid ben Menachem Manush. This morning's שיעור shiur is also sponsored by Lester and Jenny Henner in memory of his father, Yechonon Henner, יצחק בן יעקב Yitzchak ben Yaakov, his נשמה neshama should have an עליה aliyah. Thank you to the Henners for their generosity. By Charles Libby in memory of his parents Shirley and Nathan, who enjoyed 72 years of marriage. Their נשמה neshama should have an עליה aliyah as well. By Alana and Eli Korn, appreciation of the פרשה שיעור parsha shiur, in honor of their sons, Zev, Ari, Akiva, and Moshe. May they continue to love, enjoy, and set aside time for learning Torah. We are on page 144 in the Artscroll Stone חומש Chumash and we continue to follow the narrative that is unfolding in front of us. יעקב Yaakov, the איש תם יושב אוהלים ish tam yoshev ohalim. יעקב Yaakov who was depicted early on as a meek and passive, somewhat weak ישיבה בחור yeshiva bochur, has somehow managed, he's managed to dress the part, go undercover, work for the Mossad and the Shabak and the IDF and do what was necessary in order to take the ברכה bracha, but it cost him. He's now fleeing, he's in a witness protection program, leaving home because his brother, who continues to be the arch enemy of our people, עשיו Eisav, wants to kill him. Which takes us up to the beginning of our פרשה parsha. וַיֵּצֵא יַעֲקֹב מִבְּאֵר שָׁבַע וַיֵּלֶךְ חָרָנָה Vayeitzei Yaakov mi'Be'er Sheva vayelech Charanah. That יעקב Yaakov left באר שבע Be'er Sheva and he headed towards חרן Charan. He went to חרן Charan. וַיִּפְגַּע בַּמָּקוֹם Vayifga bamakom and we've studied in the past, I'm really going to try to get towards more the second half of the פרשה parsha because so many times we've covered the beginning of the פרשה parsha. Why do we need to be told where he left? All that matters is where he's going. If he's going somewhere, he obviously left somewhere else. So רש\"י Rashi famously tells us that when a צדיק tzaddik leaves a city, it leaves a רושם roshem. And that is a challenge for each of us to ask ourselves, would it be noticeable and discernible if we left or disappeared, would anyone notice? Would anyone care? Do we have such an impact, do we play such a role, are we contributing in such a way that if we left, if we disappeared, anyone would notice? And if not, maybe it's time to rethink what we do because יעקב Yaakov leaves and nevertheless it leaves a significant רושם roshem. וַיִּפְגַּע בַּמָּקוֹם Vayifga bamakom, he encounters the place. מקום Makom is one of the names of God. וַיָּלֶן שָׁם Vayalen sham, and he sleeps there, כִּי בָא הַשֶּׁמֶשׁ ki va hashemesh. וַיִּקַּח מֵאַבְנֵי הַמָּקוֹם Vayikach me'avnei hamakom, and he takes from the stones, he puts them under his head. The stones, inanimate objects, somehow are competing, each one says the צדיק tzaddik, the righteous one should rest his head on me. השם Hashem combines all the stones. This is somewhat of an allusion to the 12 tribes, these 12 stones that are going to come out of יעקב Yaakov. Even though they are distinct and different, nevertheless, there is a unity and integration among them. And so too, this is the notion of the 12 sons, the children of יעקב Yaakov. We have differences, but we are united in our relationship with and service of השם Hashem. We all know the beginning of the פרשה parsha. He has a dream. וַיַּחֲלֹם Vayachalom. He has a dream. וְהִנֵּה סֻלָּם מֻצָּב אַרְצָה Vehinei sulam mutzav artzah וְרֹאשׁוֹ מַגִּיעַ הַשָּׁמָיְמָה verosho magia hashamaymah. And the ladder is starting on the earth, and the top of the ladder reaches the heavens. וְהִנֵּה מַלְאֲכֵי אֱלֹהִים עֹלִים וְיֹרְדִים בּוֹ Vehinei malachei Elokim olim veyordim bo. And there are angels of God, they're going up and they're coming down. And again, we've covered all this in the past. רש\"י's Rashi's bothered, famously, why are the angels going up and coming down? Angels should start where? In heaven. They should come down and then go up, not go up and then come down. רש\"י Rashi references and we've spoken about in the past this famous dream. And וְהִנֵּה ה' נִצָּב עָלָיו vehinei Hashem nitzav alav, God is standing over it, and he says אני ה' Ani Hashem, he introduced, I'm God, the Lord of your father אברהם Avraham and יצחק Yitzchak. The land that you are sleeping on, good news, it's going to be yours. Prime real estate. The world will be obsessed and focused on it, and it's all yours. And you will be like עפר הארץ afar ha'aretz, ופרצת ufaratzta, you will spread ימה וקדמה וצפונה ונגבה yamah vakedmah v'tzafonah vanegbah, in every direction. ונברכו בך כל משפחות האדמה ובזרעך venivrechu vecha kol mishpechos ha'adamah u'vezarecha. And all the families of the earth will bless themselves through you or by you. And I will be with you and I will protect you. He has this incredible dream. This dream has all the elements of everything you could want. I'm going to bless you with riches and real estate. I'm going to be with you wherever you go, you have nothing to worry about. The world will admire you and indeed invoke your name in offering blessings, want to attach themselves and associate themselves to you. And יעקב Yaakov, וַיִּיקַץ יַעֲקֹב מִשְּׁנָתוֹ Vayikatz Yaakov mishnaso. יעקב Yaakov wakes up. ויאמר Vayomer and he says, ooh, אָכֵן יֵשׁ ה' בַּמָּקוֹם הַזֶּה achen yesh Hashem bamakom hazeh, ואנכי לא ידעתי ve'anochi lo yadati. Wow, God is in this place, I had no idea. I had no idea. I'm tempted to dive back into it again. We've covered it from many directions. You can listen to previous and past שיעורים shiurim. What this dream means, what did he think before the dream, what did the dream change that he has this other conclusion, why did he feel השם Hashem wasn't with him in that place, and now he does see השם Hashem in that place. What role does this ladder have bridging heaven and earth? השם Hashem is not only found in the בית מדרש Beis Medrash, in the שול shul, he's found even on the ground and in this earth he's found in the seemingly mundane activities of every day, wherever we go, whatever we do. אכן יש ה' במקום הזה Achein yesh Hashem bamakom hazeh. In fact in our אמונה שיעור emunah shiur, we made up a sticker for the back of your phone, and a tag for your luggage, and a magnet for your car. And it all says with a lot of gratitude to our friend Alana Landau, embrace your place, you're exactly where you're meant to be. אכן יש ה' במקום הזה Achein yesh Hashem bamakom hazeh. Wherever you are. Sometimes a Jew feels stuck, we're never stuck. Sometimes we feel delayed, we're never delayed. Sometimes we feel displaced and we're never displaced. Wherever we are, we should make an effort. If there's someplace else we want and intend and mean to be, make the effort to be there, but once we do, once we take our initiative, surrender, submit, and accept that a Jew is wherever they're meant to be. אכן יש השם במקום הזה Achein yesh Hashem bamakom hazeh. Too many people think, you know where השם Hashem is? If I got to sit in שול shul all day, if I could sit and שטיג shteig, if I could sit and learn in כולל kollel, if I could be in the בית מדרש Beis Medrash, I'd be a more religious personality. השם Hashem is there. The answer is no, יש ה' במקום הזה yesh Hashem bamakom hazeh. Wherever you are. In יעקב's Yaakov's case, on the run, a refugee, fleeing for his life, sleeping on the ground, an outdoorsman, combining rocks and stones under his head in order to be able to get a שלף shluff, אכן יש ה' במקום הזה achein yesh Hashem bamakom hazeh. השם Hashem, יעקב Yaakov was the originator of the sticker. יעקב Yaakov didn't need the magnet or the luggage tag. He knew wherever I am, that's what he deduced, that's what he concluded. סולם מוצב ארצה וראשו מגיע השמימה Sulam mutzav artza verosho magia hashamayma. I uh, I don't remember if I ever told you, but I dated very few girls, ברוך השם Baruch Hashem, before השם Hashem introduced me to my בשערט bashert. But in between, while dating her, there was a break, not my choice. And for another time, she stepped out so I could tell the story. And in the interim, somebody wanted to set me up with a girl who had just come back from seminary. So I was concerned. I had already been back a little while. This girl was straight back from, like right off the plane, right back from seminary. I was a little concerned, a little intense, a little... and the שדכן shadchan who tried to set me up, I'll never forget, she said, you have nothing to worry about. It's true. She's intense, she's on fire, she just got off the plane, but she's סולם מוצב ארצה וראשו מגיע השמימה sulam mutzav artza verosho magia hashamayma. Her feet are firmly planted here on earth, even if her head is still up in the clouds. Even if, even if. In any case, she was a friend of יוכבד's Yocheved's so I agreed to go out with her and soon after יוכבד Yocheved and I got back together and it's all happily ever after. So, and I'm hoping she's not listening to the פרשה שיעור parsha shiur right now. ויחלום והנה סולם מוצב ארצה וראשו מגיע השמימה Vayachalom vehinei sulam mutzav artza verosho magia hashamayma. רש\"י Rashi tells us נמצא סולם שרגלו בבאר שבע וראשו בבית אל מגיע אמצע שיפועו נגד ירושלים Nimtza sulam sheraglo b'Ve'er Sheva verosho b'Veis El magia emtza shipuo neged Yerushalayim. We've studied in the past exactly where was יעקב Yaakov. He has this dream of this ladder, where is he originating and where does the ladder extend to? What's happening? Give us some geographical context here. And it's a big מחלוקת machlokes, it's a debate among the early commentators. So for today, רש\"י Rashi. רש\"י Rashi says the foot of the ladder is in באר שבע Be'er Sheva, the top of the ladder is in בית אל Beis El. In fact, if you've visited בית אל Beis El, and I highly encourage you to, you will see an enormous sign at the entrance of בית אל Beis El today that says, \"Here is the place that יעקב Yaakov had his dream.\" בית אל Beis El. Because cities in Israel are not just cities. They are landmarks of the תורה Torah, of what happened there, to whom, when, why, what. So בית אל Beis El. This is where יעקב Yaakov had his dream. The foot of the ladder באר שבע Be'er Sheva, the top in בית אל Beis El, and the middle of the slope is opposite ירושלים Yerushalayim where הר המוריה Har Hamoriah, Temple Mount, ירושלים Yerushalayim, and where the בית המקדש Beis Hamikdash will stand soon. In his ספר טעם ודעת Sefer Ta'am V'daas, רב משה שטרנבוך Rav Moshe Sternbuch explains the ladder represents our effort to bridge heaven and earth. מוצב ארצה Mutzav artza, the ladder is rooted on the ground, are the מצוות mitzvos that we do in this world. Reaching up to the heavens represents השם Hashem receiving and accepting our efforts. So down here, we דאווענען daven, we do a מצוה mitzvah, we make a ברכה bracha, we do a חסד chesed. Those are our efforts מוצב ארצה mutzav artza down here on earth, but it's מגיע השמימה magia hashamayma. What we do down here, it matters. It shifts the cosmos. It makes it to the heavens. It stretches over the קודש הקדשים Kodesh Hakodoshim. קודש הקדשים kodesh hakodashim, the window through which our prayers go up to heaven. We create angels with each and every one of our good deeds. And the angels we create with every correct and right and good and just choice that we make, the angels that we give birth to that we create, they climb up that ladder. And when we make mistakes, we fall short, the angels come down a rung or two. He describes beautifully in his תם ודעת Tam v'Daat. סולם מרמז לתורה, תפילה וקשר עם ישראל להביא שם שמים. Sulam meramez l'Torah, t'filah, v'kesher im Yisrael l'havi shem shamayim. רגליו מוצב ארצה Raglav mutzav artza, יהודי עוסק בהן Yehudi osek bahen. ראשו מגיע השמימה Rosho magia hashamayima, שאין מתקבלות אצל הקדוש ברוך הוא she'ein miskablos etzel HaKadosh Baruch Hu. It's a beautiful image. And this is what Yaakov understood. That virtue and merit are not only relegated to the שול shul or the בית מדרש beis medrash, but a Jew wherever they are. When you're kind and courteous at the supermarket or at the gym, when you're honest and have integrity at work and in business, when we carry ourselves in the principles and values and live a lifestyle of תורה Torah, then we create angels each time. And with each of the interactions they climb that letter and they bring it, they deliver it right to the כיסא הכבוד kisei hakavod to שמימה shamayima, they bring it right to the throne of the Almighty. What an incredible image. But we also need to know the inverse is true, that when we make a mistake, when we come up short, when we indulge our base instinct, our lower or lesser self, then an angel came down a couple rungs and didn't make it all the way to the top and didn't deliver to the heavens. This is the image that Rav Sternbach portrays, very powerful, very beautiful. But he takes it a step further. And he adds an insight that despite having read the פרשה parsha so many times, until you see it, it may not jump out at you. And he says the following, he says the following. This one word in this Rashi should jump out. Rashi says, מגיע אמצע שיפועו נגד ירושלים magia emtza shipu'o neged Yerushalayim. The middle of its שיפוע shipua reaches ירושלים Yerushalayim. What does שיפוע shipua mean? שיפוע Shipua means slope, correct. It means slope. It means slope. A ladder never stands straight up. Why does a ladder never stand straight up? What would happen to that ladder? It would tip over. It would fall. You know, I came this morning and I saw on top of, ברוך השם Baruch Hashem, the walls are going up. It's incredible. It's exciting. It's amazing. And I saw on top of one of the enormous walls that's up, I saw one of the construction workers sitting on top of the wall. So I quickly took a picture and sent it to our committee to say, are we sure we have insurance? I didn't see him tied or connected to anything. He was just sitting on top of that wall. I was going to give him a violin. It'd be a great picture. Fiddler on the roof of the new שול shul. So, so I was worried, God forbid, he'd fall off. If a ladder was standing entirely upright, not on any angle at all, it would tip over, it would fall. A ladder needs to stand, needs to stand on an angle. When one is standing on the ladder resting on a rung, are you higher or lower than others on the ladder? If a ladder stood upright, then yes, if you looked up and someone was on a rung above you, you're below them. If you look down and someone's on a rung, you're above others, you're above them. But when a ladder is on an angle, says Rav Sternbach, when the ladder is on an angle, so wherever you are, whatever rung you are, if you look up, nobody's above you. And if you look down, nobody's below you. Because the way the ladder works, if it represents our climb, if it represents our place, if it represents our journey towards השם Hashem, towards our best selves, then we don't live in contrast or comparison to others. The rung represents advancement and direction. Nobody is in fact higher than another. Nobody has more or less access to or connection with the heavens or השם Hashem. All of us look up and see the heavens, and all of us look down and see the earth. When a ladder is on an angle, whatever rung you are on, nobody is above and nobody is below. Each of us, says Rav Sternbach, the Torah is telling us, is on our own rung. We're on our own climb. Looking in front or behind will only distract and only divert from our personal ambition and from pursuing our unique mission and our purpose. You know, too many people are consumed with competing and comparing and contrasting to others. But they have that title, they make that much money, they have this jewelry, they wear that car, they have this many children who are married, they have that car in their driveway, this house, they came back from that vacation, they know this many מסכתות masechtos, their שמונה עשרה shmoneh esrei is that long. The biggest obstacle to our climb is thinking there are people on top of us. Or the other biggest obstacle to our climb is the pride that comes then thinking there are people below us, beneath us. And השם Hashem says, I don't really care what rung you're on, I care which direction you're going. Where did you start? Someone can be on a ladder towards the top, but maybe they were born an even higher rung and they're on their way down. Somebody could be on a rung towards the bottom, but maybe they were born at the very foot, and they're already climbing up. What matters is not what rung you're on, what matters is which direction you're going. Because this ladder says Rav Shternbach, שיפועו shipuo, this ladder is on an angle, it's not upright. Nobody is higher or lower than anyone else. When a ladder is on an angle, everyone looks up and sees the heavens, no one above them. Everyone looks down and sees the earth, no one is beneath them, no one is below them. We should not compete and compare. One of the reasons that social media is having such a a deleterious effect on mental health of young people, but really all people, is because it lends itself, it was designed to get us to compete and compare our lives to those that we see carefully curated online that, by the way, bear no resemblance to the actual lives of the people who are posting. People post their best moment, Photoshopped, the three seconds on the two-week vacation everyone got along, the moment at dinner where they were smiling over the dessert, they picture, they post the picture when everything was wonderful, carefully curated, which is an illusion and a mirage and often usually bears little resemblance. So many influencers will tell you how their lives are falling apart or breaking down offline, relationships imploding, as long as it's carefully curated and posted online. And that's creating an environment where people are competing and comparing. It's a ladder, they're looking down or they're feeling with arrogance and pride that they're all the way on the top. The Torah comes and tells us, שיפועו shipuo. Our ladder is on an angle, it's not upright. You don't climb a corporate ladder in an effort to pass others by. We're each on our own climb, we're each on our own journey. For all of us, when we look up, nobody's above us. And when we look down, nobody's beneath us, says Rav Shternbach. That's the message of bridging Heaven and Earth. That's the journey of a Jew from מוצב ארצה mutzav artza to וראשו מגיע השמימה v'rosho magi'a hashamayma. President Teddy Roosevelt said it well, when he said, \"Comparison is the thief of joy.\" Comparison is the thief of joy. We could have so much happiness in our lives if we simply stopped competing and comparing to others, if we stopped looking at the ladder where we are relative to others. פרק כח פסוק כ Perek chaf ches, pasuk chaf. Turning the page, we're moving along, I told you. Yaakov wakes up and he declares the name of the place, ואולם לוז שם העיר לראשנה v'ulam Luz shem ha'ir larishonah. פסוק כ Pasuk chaf. וידר יעקב נדר לאמור Vayidar Yaakov neder leimor. And Yaakov takes an oath, Yaakov makes a promise, saying, אם יהיה אלוקים עמדי ושמרני בדרך הזה אשר אנוכי הולך Im yihiyeh Elokim imadi ushmarani baderech hazeh asher anochi holech. If God indeed will be with me and He will guard me on this path that I'm going, ונתן לי לחם לאכול ובגד ללבש v'nasan li lechem le'echol u'beged lilbosh, and he gives me bread to eat and clothing to wear, and ושבתי בשלום אל בית אבי v'shavti b'shalom el beit avi, and I successfully can come home. Again, Yaakov's on the run, he's fleeing, his brother wants to kill him. So he makes a deal with the Almighty. He's wheeling and dealing. Yaakov, Yaakov, the meek, passive, quiet, pale, איש תם יושב אוהלים ish tam yoshev ohalim, ישיבה בחור Yeshiva bochur whose nose is always in the גמרא Gemara, all of a sudden is a deal maker. He's a rainmaker. He's wheeling and dealing. He's making deals with the Almighty. Tell you what, God, that was a good dream. It's a nice dream. I feel good about it. You gave me a lot of promises, a lot of blessing, beautiful future. I feel pretty good about it. But let's make a deal. I want to make a promise, I'll take an oath. Here's a deal. Give me clothing to wear, give me food to eat, return me to my family home in peace, and then והיה השם לי לאלוקים v'hayah Hashem li l'Elokim. You'll be my God. You'll be my God. והאבן הזאת אשר שמתי מצבה יהיה בית אלוקים V'ha'even hazot asher samti matzeivah yihiyeh beit Elokim, and this stone will be the monument to capture this moment, this covenant, וכל אשר תתן לי עשר אעשרנו לך v'chol asher titen li aser a'asrenu lach, and if indeed you fulfill your promise and you give me that wealth and riches, of everything you give me, I'll give מעשר ma'aser, I will tithe, I will give a tenth. וישא יעקב רגליו וילך ארצה בני קדם Vayisa Yaakov raglav vayelech artza bnei kedem. And Yaakov heads out on his way. What kind of a deal is this with God? It seems like the biggest חצפה chutzpah you ever read in the entire חומש Chumash. Yaakov goes to sleep, he's on the run for his life. He has a dream. And in the dream, what did Hashem say? I know you're nervous, יענקל Yankel, יענקלה Yankeleh, I know you're nervous, but you have nothing to worry about. Don't be a worrier, be a warrior, because I'm going to be right by your side. I'm with you the entire way. The whole world's going to admire you. They're going to bless their children invoking your name. You're going to have real estate and wealth where you're sleeping. It's yours. And I'm going to return you, השיבותיך hashivotecha, I'm going to return you to this land, and I'll never abandon you, and I'll be with you. And Yaakov wakes up and he says, \"Okay, it's a good start, but let's let's talk תכלס tachlis. Let's talk תכלס tachlis. I want a contract. I want to see it in writing. I want a נדר neder.\" I'm making a נדר neder. I'm making a... oath. When will you be my God? Clothing to wear, food to eat, bring me home safely. What in the world is going on here? What kind of a נדר neder? What is happening in this time? So there is an essay, there used to be a journal, Rabbi Moshe Sasevsky who was the ראש ישיבה Rosh Yeshiva of אור ירושלים Ohr Yerushalayim, was the general editor of a wonderful journal that was put out years ago by the OU called Jewish thought. Anyone ever hear of it or read it? I don't even know if you could find it online, but I collected them when they came out. It was beautiful articles in מחשבה machshava on תנ״ך Tanach by wonderful authors. They stopped it a long time ago. If you have any pull, influence, every time Rabbi Sasevsky visited our community I would encourage him to put it out again. So there was an article by Rav Nachman Labeen called, bread to eat, clothes to wear, the symbols of Yaakov's trials. And it's a long essay, I'm not going to tell you, but I will just point to the thesis of it because it's excellent. He writes, Yaakov's anxieties about bread and clothes are understandable. Having just taken food and precious clothes in order to usurp Esav's ברכה bracha, Yaakov feared that measure for measure, bread, clothes would elude him. And indeed, they did. Despite Hashem's promise, Yaakov had a good reason to worry. And why did Yaakov have a good reason to worry? Because how does Hashem act, interact with us? מידה כנגד מידה Mida keneged mida, measure for measure. So why was Yaakov specifically nervous, I'm going to have a problem. I misused clothing, and therefore I may struggle with clothing. And I misused food, and therefore I and my descendants may struggle with food. Why would Yaakov fear that? Because what did Yaakov just do? Where is he coming from, albeit with a 14 year כולל kollel interruption at ישיבת שם ועבר Yeshivas Shem V'Ever that I'm sure began with one year and turned into 14. But, anyway, where was he just coming from? Having taken the ברכות brachos from his brother Esav. And how did he take the ברכות brachos from his brother Esav? Because Yitzchak, or Rivka rather, instructed him. Go kill an animal and go put on its fur and go disguise yourself and wear the clothing of your brother. And go slaughter and go cook and barbecue a meal for your father because Yitzchak didn't eat kale, like a real ייד Yid, he ate פלייש fleish. He had a barbecue, he ate good meat, and that's what will make him happy. So Yaakov's pursuit of food and clothing revolves around these issues, and his children experience the same. Just think about it for a moment, this is what he develops in this essay. Where do clothing then play a role and haunt Yaakov the rest of his life? What happens with Yaakov's sons? Yaakov gives a gift to one son. What's that gift? It wasn't a Gameboy. He didn't give him an iPhone, AirPods. What was the gift he gave him? An article of clothing, a coat of many colors. And it led to what we know. So Yaakov and clothing, they were problematic. It all began when he used clothing for deception, and then he's nervous and he makes a deal with Hashem, don't take away מידה כנגד מידה mida keneged mida. Now I'm really worried, continue to clothe me and my progeny. And then with his own children he has this issue with clothing. They strip Yosef of his clothes, they throw him in the pit, they slaughter a kid of goats and they take the the blood, they go back. What does Ruvein do when he goes back to the pit and there's no Yosef? What does he tear? His clothing. And then they go back and tell Yaakov, Yosef, we lost Yosef. And what does Yaakov do? He tears his clothing. And so, again, he develops this in this essay. There's a reason that Yaakov is concerned and makes a נדר neder, דוקא dafka specifically about clothing and food because when you track and trace Yaakov's life, you will see the significance and centrality, the role of clothing. Even among other children of Yaakov. Yehuda. What happens with Yehuda? Yehuda and Tamar. What does Tamar present? She says, whoever owns these items is the father of the baby I'm carrying. What are those items? It was a ring, but it was also clothing. It was clothing. Through this trickery Tamar bore Peretz and Zerach, who like Yaakov and Esav are twins. He has a beautiful, beautiful essay here. Potiphar. What does what does Yosef leave behind when he's in Egypt? אשת פוטיפר Eishes Potiphar grabs his his garment, and he runs out without it. All the clothing, I didn't even tell you them all, but there are many, many references, the role, the centrality. There's a good reason that Yaakov was worried about clothing. Things come full circle. They come full circle. And later, Yosef falsely accuses his brothers of stealing and punishing them by enslaving Binyamin. And what do they do? They tear their clothing. And they cause their father to tear his clothing when they go back and they say, we're in trouble. We had to leave another brother down in Egypt. And then when Yosef reveals himself, what does he give as a gift? What's the free giveaway? An Artscroll iPad? מסתמא Mistama also, but what's the giveaway? What did he give? He gave them all each one, changes of garments. And to Binyamin he gave five changes of garments. Clothing over and over and over. You may have never noticed it, but now you can't help but see it everywhere in the rest of ספר בראשית Sefer Bereishis. Clothing and Yaakov and Yaakov's sons are everywhere. In both directions, tearing clothing, leaving clothing behind, and then the gift of clothing. And the same is true about food. Yaakov tried to feed his children and there were problems. What's Yosef's dream about his brothers? The sun, the moon, the stars, global power through food. There's a famine and they have to go down to Egypt. And who will be the one who owns and controls and can give out the food? It's Yosef. That's what causes the enmity, the animosity, this dream. They sold him to food merchants. And who in turn sold him to Potifar, Mitzrayim's minister of chefs. Yosef controls everything with one exception. He left everything he had in Yosef's hands, says the Torah, except for the bread that he ate. That Potifar did not give to Yosef. And then we have the שר האופים Sar HaOfim, שר הטבחים Sar HaTabachim, and שר המשקים Sar HaMashkim. Again, references to food over and over and over again. Yosef's family reunion, they go down to get food, he sends them back with food, he makes them an accusation about a goblet of food, slavery is on their mind, he reveals himself, and what does he do? He indulges in food, he breaks bread. And Yaakov and his sons finally had bread to eat and clothing to wear. They were not destined to return to Eretz Yisrael to build Hashem's house, but they established a house dedicated to the service of Hashem in Egypt. So in this beautiful essay, I highly encourage you to get your hands on it and read it. He talks about, this נדר neder of Yaakov is not because he has doubt in Hashem. In whom does he have doubt? In himself. He's worried. I used clothing and food for deception and trickery, and now I'm worried I'm going to be in trouble. And therefore he makes a deal with Hashem. Don't punish my offspring. Don't punish my progeny because I tricked. I was deceptive using clothing and food. So therefore he makes this נדר neder. And indeed, clothing and food, food play the big role, but when the curtain comes down at the end of ויחי Vayechi, the brothers are breaking bread together and they're giving gifts of clothing to one another, and the נדר neder that Yaakov makes is fulfilled. It's a beautiful essay and a beautiful insight, and I encourage you to read it. Rav Avraham Schorr, שליט\"א shlita, in his new לקח וליבון Lekach V'Libun on the Parsha, his beautiful essays again all throughout our Parsha. But here specifically he writes, וידר יעקב נדר לאמר Vayidar Yaakov neder leimor. The Medrash tells us, מהו לאמר mahu leimor? If Yaakov made a נדר neder with Hashem, what does the word לאמר leimor mean? Saying. Well, וידר vayidar means he vowed. Why do you have to repeat? Vow, saying. Just vow. Why do you have to use the word saying? Says the מדרש Medrash, לאמר לדורות leimor l'doros, כדי שיהיו נודרים בעת צרתם kedei sheyihyu nodrim b'eis tzarosam. Yaakov here was a precedent. Yaakov here gave us license. Yaakov here teaches us, when we are in an עת צרה ליעקב eis tzarah l'Yaakov, if God forbid we find ourselves as we have these last two years, in a time of crisis for the children of Yaakov, what should we do? Make a נדר neder. Make a vow, a promise, cut a deal with the Almighty. יעקב פתח בנדר תחילה, לפיכך כל מי שנודר לא יתלה את הנדר אלא בו Yaakov pasach b'neder techilah, l'ficha kohl mi she'nodeir lo yitleh es ha'neder ela bo. What right? What license? What precedent do we have to make a deal with God? We point to Yaakov. וידר יעקב נדר Vayidar Yaakov neder, לאמר לדורות leimor l'doros. Yaakov's נדר neder was for generations that we too, whether individually or whether collectively, we too. The pasuk in Tehillim says, אשר נשבע להשם נדר לאביר יעקב asher nishba l'Hashem neder l'avir Yaakov. It doesn't say אביר אברהם avir Avraham, אביר יצחק avir Yitzchak, אלא נדר לאביר יעקב ela neder l'avir Yaakov. תלה את הנדר במי שפתח בו תחילה Talah es ha'neder b'mi she'pasach bo techilah. When it's time for Dovid Hamelech in his life and in his problems to make a נדר neder, a vow, an oath, a promise to Hashem, whom does he attribute it to, hang his hat on? None other than אביר יעקב Avir Yaakov. Yaakov. Because Yaakov made this נדר neder. Yaakov made this נדר neder. And Rashi there in the Medrash Tehillim says, כל הנודר צריך להזכיר בנדרו ישראל Kohl ha'nodeir tzarich l'hazkir b'nidro Yisrael. Anyone who makes a נדר neder should invoke and associate it. with the נדר neder of יעקב Yaakov. The נדר neder of יעקב Yaakov. We see we have this capacity. Now, why did יעקב Yaakov make this נדר neder? He then continues, יעקב איש תם יושב אהלים של תורה, בהליכתו לבית עבר ישב שם י\"ד שנים. כשיצא מבאר שבע, מקום הקדושה, לחוץ לארץ, מקום הקליפות, נתירא. When does יעקב Yaakov make this נדר neder? What precipitates יעקב Yaakov to make the נדר neder? What he's worried about is, I'm leaving the cocoon. I'm leaving the nest. I'm leaving the safe space of the בית מדרש beis medrash. And I have to go out into the world. It's time for an education. It's time for a profession. It's time to build a family. It's time to navigate the world. And he's worried. שנתירא שמא יבוא לידי ג' עבירות החמורות. God forbid he will violate the three, of course, strictest sins. In the אהל ohel of תורה Torah he's confident he'll be okay, but now out there in the world he's worried. And where do you see this? על כן נדר יעקב נדר, וידוע ענין הנדר שהוא משער החמישים. A נדר neder is נון-דר nun-dar. The word דר dar means to live, to dwell. Where did יעקב Yaakov go to dwell? In the letter נון nun. What's נון nun? שהוא למעלה משבע ימי הבנין. ז' פעמים ז' הם מ\"ט, seven times seven is 49. And the fiftieth gate is למעלה l'maalah, is above טבע teva. יעקב Yaakov's worried, I'm going to give in to my טבע teva. I'm going to give in to my nature. I'm going to give into my natural impulse, instinct, drive, temptation. What's one above nature, giving into nature? נון nun. Seven is nature. Seven times seven is 49. נון דר Nun-dar. I want to dwell and live in a place one above, one above טבע teva. על כן נודרים בעת צרה שאין לו תשועה מצד הטבע, צריך לישועה משער החמישים. When we're worried that we can't find, I don't see. In the natural way of things, in the way the world is unfolding naturally, I don't see a way out. How's this going to work? How will it make sense? How is it going to happen? So when the situation feels helpless and hopeless. When Israel is surrounded on seven sides, seven countries attacking her, when it feels helpless and hopeless. Hundreds of thousands of missiles from Hezbollah. Ballistic missiles from Iran, חמאס Hamas, Houthis, יהודה ושומרון Yehuda v'Shomron, their terrorists. At the United Nations, as we heard about this past שבת Shabbos, Hillel Neuer and UN Watch. In some of the halls of Congress, offices of Congress, from all over. Helpless and hopeless. על פי דרך הטבע Al pi derech ha'teva, in the natural order, how will get out? That's when you make a נדר neder. That's why, because נדר neder is נון דר nun-dar. השם Hashem, even when it seems naturally helpless and hopeless, I dwell in the place of נון nun. I dwell on the 50th floor. I don't, my elevator doesn't stop at 49. My elevator, a Jew's elevator, doesn't stop at the multiple of seven, the natural order. We go all the way to the 50th floor. We go to a place where we know you're capable of anything, of miracles. ובזה מבואר דמיעד בעשיית הנדר האדם מקשר את עצמו לשער החמישים. By making a נדר neder, a נון דר nun-dar, you live on the 50th floor. You connect to the 50th level, to what is above nature, to the רבונו של עולם Ribono shel Olam, to השם Hashem. It's a long essay. I wish I had time to go through the whole thing. I'm just giving you some tastes of רב שור Rav Shor. It's amazing. He's amazing. Just some tastes. It's not a coincidence. I know we're only up to חנוכה Chanukah. But let's skip forward to פורים Purim. המן Haman made a tree. How tall was it? עץ גבוה חמישים אמה. חז\"ל Chazal say שנטל עץ מהרי אררט, ששם היו נסאי התיבה, שהיה רוחב התיבה חמישים אמה. Where did המן Haman make that, that pole from? He took it from the boards of the ark that ultimately ended up on the mountains of אררט Ararat, and the length of those boards were how long? Fifty אמה amah. What in the world is this reference? ילקוט שמעוני Yalkut Shimoni and אסתר Esther. Why was it fifty אמה amah tall? And what was it taken from the ark, the תיבה teiva of נח Noach? What's going on here? So the מהר\"ל Maharal in אור חדש Or Chadash writes that the number 50 is למעלה מסדר הטבע l'maalah mi'seder ha'teva. Four, seven times seven is 49, 50 is one above. The flood came to destroy the world. נח Noach saved it with a תיבה teiva that was 50, one more than nature. The natural order of the flood that destroyed nature, he survived by being in a תיבה teiva that was 50 אמה amah, one above nature. ומזה העץ רצה המן הרשע ליטול כוחות לבטל כלל ישראל. המן Haman calculated that I'll draw from that place, the 50th, if that's where the Jews go in a crisis, if that's where they dwell and live, if that's how they are so resilient that they have survived through the millennia, המן Haman said... I got to go get something from the 50th floor to bring them down. That's why he goes and he takes specifically that. ומזה מבואר אבני נזר ענין של נדר, נ-דר U'mizeh m'voar Avnei Nezer inyan shel neder, nun dar. Like ביאה עצמה למעלה מן הטבע להיות נגיעה בשער חמישים bi'ah atzma l'ma'ala min hateva l'hiyos negia b'shaar chamishim. That's what it means to take a נדר neder like יעקב Yakov did here. That is the path that we are following. In his תלידשה talidasha, the Gara Rosh Yeshiva also has an insight on this. ושמרני בדרך U'shmarani baderech, he has a different question. יעקב'ס Yakov's language seems superfluous. יעקב Yakov says, give me bread to eat. Give me clothing to wear. You're not eating the clothing or wearing the bread. It's obvious that you eat bread and wear clothing. So why not just cut a deal and say, השם Hashem, give me clothing and bread? Why does he have to elaborate, give me bread to eat and clothing to wear? So the Gara Rosh Yeshiva quotes his great זיידע zayde, the שפת אמת Sfas Emes, that יעקב Yakov wanted bread only to eat and not to leave over. לחם לאכול Lechem l'echol. השם Hashem, I'm not asking you for a net worth. I'm not asking you for retirement fund. I'm not asking you for storehouses. I'm not asking you for Costco-sized portions. All I need is every day bread for that day. Like the גמרא Gemara in סוטה Sotah says, a person who has bread for today yet worries what he will eat tomorrow is מקטני אמנה miktanei emunah. If you have what you need for today, don't worry about tomorrow. If you worry about tomorrow, then you're מקטני אמנה miktanei emunah. יעקב Yakov didn't want his food or any of his physical needs to occupy his mind aside from when he needed to engage them. Now that doesn't mean we don't believe in planning. You got to plan for your retirement. You got to save for your retirement. You've got to plan for the future. תורה Torah is for planning. רב משה Rav Moshe has תשובות teshuvos about having life insurance. You've got to plan for the future. That is a very Jewish concept. But not to be plagued by or worried about or forfeiting the present for the future. You plan for the future and then you live in the present. So יעקב Yakov says, I'm not worried about tomorrow, as long as you give me what I need today, what I need today. There's a notation at the above גמרא Gemara referencing a מדרש Midrash. It says the פסוק pasuk says, למען אנסנו הילך בתורתי l'maan anasenu hayelech b'torasi. A פסוק pasuk in שמות Shemos about the מן man, that I can test them whether they'll follow my teaching. What does that have to do with קטני אמנה katnei emunah? Says the Gara Rosh Yeshiva, this teaching of חז\"ל Chazal seems to contradict another, gives a משל mashal of a king. So the Gara Rosh Yeshiva goes on and he says the following. The גמרא Gemara says הקדוש ברוך הוא Hakadosh Baruch Hu is only interested in his world is the four אמות amos of הלכה Halacha. After spending 14 years immersed in the ארבע אמות arba amos of הלכה Halacha, יעקב Yakov had come to embody the very reason for the world's existence, giving the lower world unprecedented prominence. The heavenly בית המקדש Beis Hamikdash was aligned to the more prominent בית המקדש של מטה Beis Hamikdash shel mata. Same is true. רש\"י Rashi mentions this concept for the third time. Sorry, am I reading the right, I'm not reading the right insight. I apologize. I'm reading the wrong insight. Back to the Gara Rosh Yeshiva for here. So again, why is it לחם לאכול ובגד ללבש lechem l'echol u'beged lilbosh? Bread is obviously to eat, and clothing is obviously to wear, because יעקב Yakov only wants enough for that day. He's not lost in the future, needing for the, needing for the future. Says the Gara Rosh Yeshiva, there's a fine line between appropriate concern and lack of faith. Although בני ישראל Bnei Yisrael were to be concerned the מן man wouldn't fall tomorrow, they weren't to fear they wouldn't have food. That would be an indication of poor faith. After all, השם Hashem who supported all mankind would support them. The concern was meant to inspire them to remember that everything is dependent only to השם Hashem so that they would turn their hearts to him. למען אנסנו הילך בתורתי L'maan anasenu hayelech b'torasi. That's what the מדרש Midrash means. That's what it's all about. This connects also to last week's פרשה parsha. When יעקב Yakov gets that ברכה bracha from his father, what's the ברכה bracha? ויתן לך V'yiten lecha. Many have the custom to recite this long section on מוצאי שבת Motzei Shabbos. By the way, a Jew doesn't do it alone. They say it alternating with somebody else, because we wish and we want, we get ברכות brachos in tandem, cooperatively with others. Why does it begin with a ו vav? ויתן לך V'yiten lecha. So רש\"י Rashi says, יתן ויחזור ויתן yiten v'yachzor v'yiten. השם Hashem gives and he goes back and he gives again. What kind of a ברכה bracha is that? Allocate and give me everything I need in perpetuity forever. I don't want to have to go back over and over again. Because the ultimate ברכה bracha is יתן ויחזור ויתן yiten v'yachzor v'yiten. It's not a ברכה bracha if a parent says, here's my credit card, unlimited limits, זיי געזונט, בי געזונט, א גוט יאר zai gezunt, bi gezunt, a gut yor, I don't need to hear from you, we don't need to speak, you're good to go, you have everything you need, enjoy. Versus when the parent says, enjoy, here's a debit card. I have a suspicion I'll hear from you before שבת Shabbos. The evidence the parent loves the child is when the parent does not give the child everything they need in perpetuity because they want to hear from that child. They want a relationship with that child. יתן ויחזור ויתן Yiten v'yachzor v'yiten. To live a life, and יעקב Yakov received this ברכה bracha from his father. לחם לאכל ובגד ללבש lechem l'echol u'beged lilbosh. I just need enough for today. And tomorrow I'll ask you again for tomorrow, and the next day I'll draw close to you again by asking you again then. Each day, I have the blessing of feeling I need you each and every day, of never feeling I've arrived, of never leaning in to be too comfortable. פרק כט, פסוק כ Perek kaf tes, pasuk kaf. So he flees, he's on his way, he goes to the well, he meets רחל Rachel, he takes this heavy stone off the top that the shepherds weren't able to do. He rebukes the shepherds, what are you doing? It's the middle of the day. Why are you retired? Why are you off from work? Get back to work. We spoke in the past. I would think that they would smack him around. We just met you, who are you to give us rebuke? How did יעקב Yaakov get away with rebuking them? We spoke about them in the past. And he says to רחל Rachel, נו Nu, where do you come from? You're connected to לבן Lavan. Can you take me home? I gotta meet לבן Lavan. רחל Rachel takes יעקב Yaakov home to לבן Lavan, and יעקב Yaakov falls in love with רחל Rachel. לאה Leah, her eyes are רכות rakot, רחל Rachel is beautiful. יעקב Yaakov loves רחל Rachel, he works for her for seven years. We're fast forwarding here. פסוק כ Pasuk kaf, page 150. ויעבוד יעקב ברחל שבע שנים ויהיו בעיניו כימים אחדים באהבתו אותו Vaya'avod Yaakov b'Rachel sheva shanim vayihiyu v'einav k'yamim achadim b'ahavato oto. יעקב Yaakov contracts to marry, and he's deceived. But he works seven more years for רחל Rachel because he loves her. And what happens? These seven years the Torah tells us, they passed by, ויהיו בעיניו כימים אחדים vayihiyu v'einav k'yamim achadim. How does Artscroll translate? They seemed to him a few days because of his love for her. They seemed just a few days because of his love for her. Says Rabbi Sacks, ויהיו בעיניו כימים אחדים vayihiyu v'einav k'yamim achadim. For several פסוקים pesukim we've been kept in suspense. After a month when לבן Lavan asked יעקב Yaakov what he would like his wages to be in return for the work he expects from him, the text makes clear what we suspected at the outset. יעקב Yaakov has fallen in love with רחל Rachel. יעקב Yaakov is following his eyes, not generally considered a good thing in תנ״ך Tanach. חוה Chava followed her eyes in desiring the forbidden fruit. שמואל Shmuel, seeing the sons of ישי Yishai among whom ה׳ Hashem has told him is Israel's future king, initially chose אליאב Eliav who looks the part. He's told by ה׳ Hashem he judged wrongly. Man looks at the outward appearance, but ה׳ Hashem looks at the heart. And yet, יעקב Yaakov is deeply in love. Torah tells us, this is one of its most beautiful lines. יעקב Yaakov worked for רחל Rachel seven years, but so great was his love for her that they seemed a few days. He is oblivious to both labor and time. Not before and not afterward do we find in the Torah such romantic passion. When you are in love, time doesn't take forever. Time flies by quickly. When the work that you're doing is towards the person that you're in love with, then time flies. When the work that you're doing is so that you can unite and connect with the person you love, then indeed, says Rabbi Sacks, time flies. But I want to tell you, Rabbi Dr. Abraham J. Twerski has a commentary on פרשה parsha, on חומש Chumash. Rabbi יודא Yoda brought this down. And he says the following. Applying from the recovery world. You know in the recovery world, how do you get somebody who's hit rock bottom? How do you get somebody who's ready to make a change of transformation in their life? They're ready to understand that they can't help themselves, they have to submit to a higher power, that they can't get themselves out of their bind. That person who's addicted to gambling, alcohol, drugs, other behaviors and substances, how do they commit to a lifelong radical change in their lifestyle? You know, the rest of my life is a very, hopefully a very long time. I'll never have a drink, I'll never have drugs, I'll never gamble, I'll never look at, I'll never do. The rest of life is a very long time. And in the recovery world, one of the sayings is, one day at a time. One day at a time. Says Rabbi Twerski, that's פשט pshat. Yes, יעקב Yaakov looks at רחל Rachel and says seven years, are you crazy? That's not ישיביש yeshivish to wait seven years to get married. And I'm יעקב Yaakov. Seven years. Seven months, seven weeks. Seven weeks. What do you mean seven years? It's forever seven years. How does יעקב Yaakov do it? ימים אחדים Yamim achadim. What's the root of the word אחדים achadim? אחד Echad. One day at a time. One day at a time. Every day, I'm almost there. אט אט at at, I'm almost there to marrying רחל Rachel. Just one more day I have to work. And then after that it'll be one more day I have to work. And after that it'll be one more day I have to work. Just lay off the alcohol, the drugs. I don't know what will be forever. Just today. One more day I'm not. One more day I'm not going to speak לשון הרע lashon hara. One more day I'm going to wake up and make it to מנין minyan. One more day I'm not going to raise my voice or be impatient. One more day. One day at a time. One day at a time. It is a strategy in a method for anything meaningful in life. And says Rabbi Twerski so beautifully, maybe that's פשט pshat. For יעקב Yaakov, seven years should feel like and is forever. So how does he make the time fly by? Because he thinks about them as, how? ימים אחדים Yamim achadim. One day at a time. One day at a time. פרק כט פסוק כה Perek chaf tet pasuk chaf hei. ויהי בבקר והנה היא לאה Vayehi baboker v'hinei hi Leah. So he works his seven years and he thinks he's marrying who? He's marrying רחל Rachel. And he wakes up in the morning and who is it instead? He looks over and he says, whoa. לאה Leah. What are you doing here? ויאמר אל לבן מה זאת עשית לי הלא ברחל עבדתי עמך ולמה רמיתני Vayomer el Lavan mah zot asisa li halo b'Rachel avaditi imcha v'lama rimisani? What's going on over here? What did you do to me? I worked for רחל Rachel. You pulled the old switcheroo. What happened over here? What happened over here? למה רמיתני Lama rimisani? Says Rabbi Sacks, what does the word רמיתני rimisani mean? Why'd you trick me? Where else did we see that word? Go back to פרק כז פסוק לה Perek chaf zayin pasuk lamed hei. כז לה Chaf zayin lamed hei. When יעקב Yaakov takes the ברכות brachos from his father, what does the פסוק pasuk say? כז Chaf zayin, לה lamed hei. ויאמר בא אחיך במרמה Vayomer ba achicha b'mirmah. מרמה Mirmah is the same root, the same word. למה רמיתני Lama rimisani, בא אחיך במרמה ba achicha b'mirmah. Points out Rabbi Sacks, listen carefully to the text. The word יעקב Yaakov uses with לבן Lavan, רמיתני rimisani, is the very word יצחק Yitzchak used to describe יעקב's Yaakov's behavior in taking עשיו'ס ברכה Eisav's bracha. מרמה Mirmah. The word לבן Lavan uses to describe the younger sibling is צעירה tze'ira. Cause what does he answer לבן Lavan? לא יעשה כן במקומנו Lo ye'aseh kein bimkomeinu. Hey buddy, relax, fall back. You know why I switched them out? Because we don't do that over here. We don't give the younger one before the older one. לתת הצעירה לפני הבכירה Latet hatze'ira lifnei habechira. Again, that word should be familiar, points out Rabbi Sacks. The word that appears in רבקה'ס Rivka's oracle about יעקב ועשיו Yaakov v'Eisav, צעיר tza'ir. The greater shall the younger serve, צעיר tza'ir. Even the sentence לבן Lavan uses to justify the deception, \"This is not done in our country to marry off the younger before the firstborn,\" is deeply ironic. Does לבן Lavan know that this in effect is what יעקב Yaakov once did in another place? The irony may be unintentional. לבן Lavan may not know, but we, the readers, do. And so surely does יעקב Yaakov himself. If these hints are signaling how the passage should be read, then the narrative is an example unparalleled in its drama of the single most fundamental moral axiom of the תורה Torah, מדה כנגד מדה midah k'neged midah, measure for merit, measure. Those who deceive will be deceived. מדה כנגד מדה Midah k'neged midah. So this is now the second time we've seen מדה כנגד מדה midah k'neged midah in our פרשה parsha. First, וידר יעקב נדר לאמר Vayidor Yaakov neder leimor. Why does יעקב Yaakov need to take a נדר neder about clothing and food? Because מדה כנגד מדה midah k'neged midah, he misused, he used clothing and food to be deceptive. Now we have another מדה כנגד מדה midah k'neged midah. רמיתני Rimisani, מרמה mirmah. צעירה Tze'ira, צעיר tza'ir. The very language, the very words after יעקב Yaakov suffers the deception are familiar because they're the exact same words that are used for the deception that יעקב Yaakov himself had pulled. פרק כט לה Perek chaf tet lamed hei. Next page. Now, he works, he marries רחל Rachel, he marries לאה Leah. He works and he marries רחל Rachel. לאה Leah bears him four sons. פסוק לה Pasuk lamed hei. ותהר עוד ותלד בן ותאמר הפעם אודה את ה' על כן קראה שמו יהודה ותעמוד מלדת Vatahar od vateiled ben vatomer hapa'am odeh et Hashem al kein karah shmo Yehuda vata'amod miledet. The fourth son is called יהודה Yehuda. Why? This time I thank God. She therefore called him יהודה Yehuda, ותעמוד מלדת vata'amod miledet, and she thought she was done having children. We are called, what's our name? The Jewish people? יהודים Yehudim. אידען Yidden. יהודים Yehudim. We are יהודים Yehudim. We are Jews. To be a Jew is to be a יהודי Yehudi. To be a יהודי Yehudi, אני יהודי ani Yehudi, to be יהודים Yehudim, to be a איד Yid, is to be grateful. We are a people of gratitude. It's amazing. Every year we read this פרשה parsha the week of Thanksgiving. The country, the country gives thanks for a day and we join the country in giving thanks for that day, appreciation. I actually just published yesterday. Last Friday, I had the privilege of offering an invocation at the America First Policy Institute in front of some high-ranking members of the administration, cabinet members, and others. I hesitated whether to do it. I did it in the end. And what I spoke about was that if America first, America first has to mean knowing how America first came to be. And if America first came to be from the values of the Jewish Bible, the declaration is filled with the language. of the Jewish Bible of our תורה Torah. It's founded on Jewish values. Jews are great patriots and Jews have every right to feel free and safe wearing a יארמלקע yamaka wherever they go. I spoke very strongly and I published what I said, you could read it online. It's my my post for this week. So, we're proud and we participate in giving thanks. Maybe nobody more than the Jew, because no country in the diaspora, in our history, has offered us greater protection, safety, security, greater freedom, and a greater ability to practice our religion. And with all that we're going through, and all the challenges that we have, and all the concerns for the future, including especially for New York, its new mayor, we still have the greatest freedom and the greatest opportunity to live our religious lives in safety and security than in any other place and at any other time in our dispersion in the diaspora. So we join in that gratitude. But for a Jew, it's not one day of a year and it's not marked by eating turkey and having fantastic sales. For a Jew, it's each and every day. It is our name. We are Jews because every time we reference our Judaism, we should be filled with gratitude. That's who we are. That's how we wake up every day. What are the first words on our lips when we wake up in the morning? מודה אני Modeh Ani. Even though grammatically it should be אני מודה Ani modeh, I thank, a Jew can't wake up with the word I. The first word that you say every morning can't be I. So we therefore bend the rules of grammar to instead of waking up with the word I, אני Ani, we say it grammatically incorrectly, imprecisely, to begin מודה Modeh, אני Ani, grateful am I. Because what's the first word on the lip of a Jew when we wake up in the morning? Attitude of gratitude. I wake up and say, \"Ooh, wah! Thank you!\" So grateful. מודה אני Modeh Ani. I'm so grateful. Not just one Thursday a year, each and every day of every year of my whole life begins with מודה אני Modeh Ani. מודה Modeh, grateful am I. It's in our very name so that we remember it. That's what the כתב סופר Ksav Sofer says, Talmud tells us that until לאה Leah nobody thanked השם Hashem. Until לאה Leah, nobody thanked השם Hashem? What does that mean? What does that mean? אדם Adam and חוה Chava thanked השם Hashem. נח Noach thanked השם Hashem. שם ועבר Shem v'Ever at Yeshiva, they didn't thank השם Hashem? אברהם Avraham thanked השם Hashem, יצחק Yitzchak thanked השם Hashem, יעקב Yaakov thanked השם Hashem. לאה Leah is the first to thank השם Hashem? So כתב סופר Ksav Sofer says, everybody else thanked השם Hashem. Thank you was paying a debt of gratitude. You did something nice for me, I said thank you, and now we're even. Even Steven. Now we call it even. Now we're even. לאה Leah said, no. This is a debt I can never pay. And so she names her son יהודה Yehuda. Why? Every time she calls his name, יהודה Yehuda, hurry up, you're gonna miss the bus. יהודה Yehuda, did you do your homework? יהודה Yehuda, it's time for supper. Every time she says his name, she's saying הפעם אודה את השם Ha'pa'am odeh es Hashem. יהודה Yehuda, thank you השם Hashem for this one. יהודה Yehuda, thank you השם Hashem for יהודה Yehuda. Every time she says his name, she's thanking again and again, over and over. Not as a debt she discharged and now she's done, but as a identity, to be thankful over and over and over again. And that's as the חידושי הרי\"ם Chidushei HaRim says, the Jewish people are called יהודים Yehudim. We don't pay a debt of gratitude once, but we are thankful over and over and over again. Says the תפארת שמואל Tiferes Shmuel, הפעם אודה שנתת לי יותר מחלקי Ha'pa'am odeh shenatata li yoser m'chelki. מעתה יש לי להודות Me'ata yesh li l'hodot. She also calculated she had received more than her portion. So now I have to be grateful. Why did she think she had more than her portion? She was a she was a prophet. And she knew that יעקב Yaakov was going to have how many children? 12. And יעקב Yaakov had how many wives? Four. 2+2=4. So 12 divided by four, לאה Leah could do it, the math was three. This is her fourth son. She says, I thought I'd only have three, that's the math. That's how it calculates. So now I had four, one more than I deserved. Ooh, הפעם אודה את השם Ha'pa'am odeh es Hashem. I have to be grateful. Says the תפארת שמואל Tiferes Shmuel, איזה בן זכאי בברכותיו, אמר רבי יוחנן משום רבי שמעון בר יוחאי, כל הקדוש ברוך הוא למעלה דאין אדם שהקדוש ברוך הוא eizeh ben zakkai b'vrachotav, amar Rabbi Yochanan m'shum Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, kol haKadosh Baruch Hu l'maalah d'ein adam she'haKadosh Baruch Hu. Nobody thanked השם Hashem 'til לאה Leah. ללמדנו שלאה היא שראשונה בעולם Lilamdeinu sheLeah hi she'rishona ba'olam, why is לאה Leah considered the first one to thank השם Hashem? What do you mean? אדם Adam recited מזמור שיר ליום השבת טוב להודות להשם Mizmor shir l'yom haShabbos tov l'hodos l'Hashem. That קאפיטל תהילים kapitel Tehillim was not written by דוד המלך David HaMelech. We have a tradition that קאפיטל תהילים kapitel Tehillim goes all the way back to אדם Adam. אדם Adam said מזמור שיר ליום השבת, טוב להודות להשם Mizmor shir l'yom haShabbos, tov l'hodos l'Hashem. אדם Adam thanked השם Hashem. Countless others, אברהם Avraham with מלכי צדק Malki Tzedek thanked השם Hashem. We have many others. So why are we saying לאה Leah is the first? ויש חילוק בין אדם הראשון ונח ואברהם אבינו ובין לאה. כל אלו הודו להשם V'yesh chiluk bein Adam haRishon v'Noach v'Avraham Avinu u'vein Leah. Kol eilu hodu l'Hashem. על הטובה שרצו לקבל al hatovah she'ratzu l'kabel. כגון אדם הראשון ששמע מקין, אישתקן לו מעשה תשובה K'gon Adam Harishon she'shama mi'Kain, ishtikan lo ma'aseh teshuvah. ממילא יכול לכפר על חטא Meilu yochal l'chaper al cheit. Each of the others thanked Hashem for something they wanted to get. Avram thanked Hashem that he defeated the four kings, he was able to rescue Lot. לאה נצטערה זה שיעקב קבע עיקר מקומו אצל רחל Leah nitzta'ara zeh she'Yaakov kava ikar mekomo eitzel Rachel. Leah is incredibly pained by the fact that who does Yaakov love more? רחל Rachel. She's in tremendous pain. But שחשבה שעושה לה קרס הבית shechashva she'osa la keres habayis. לפיכך נתנה שמות לבניה הראשונים שיחזקה הקשר ביניהם l'ficachch nasna sheimos l'vaneha harishonim she'yachzeka hakesher beineihem. All the names of the first three sons are to bind her, connect her, tie her to Yaakov. הבן הראשון ראובן. ראה השם בעניי Ha'ben harishon Reuven. Ra'ah Hashem b'onyi. שמעון. שמע אלוקים ששנואה פסי Shimon. Shama Elokim she'snuah pasi. לוי. הפעם ילוה אישי Levi. Hapa'am yelaveh ishi. Each of the first three names are, Hashem I'm suffering, Yaakov doesn't love me, I'm a second wife, second fiddle. Hopefully these children will bind me, connect me to him. When she sees כשראתה שלא מועיל אינה מצליחה להתקרב יותר ליעקב k'shera'asa shelo mo'il, eina matzlicha l'hiskarev yoser l'Yaakov, it's not working. She's still not the primary wife. אף על פי שהיה לה חזקה af al pi she'haya la chazakah, even though she had a חזקה chazakah, she had three sons, הבינה שתפקידה בחייה להיות שנייה לרחל hevina she'tafkida b'chayeha l'hiyos shniyah l'Rachel. She all of a sudden shifts and pivots and realizes, my mission and my purpose, my place in life is not to be Yaakov's number one. What's my purpose and place in life? I have a different תפקיד tafkid. And Hashem is showing me that. And how did he show it? Because I got more than my portion, I got a fourth son. What's my role? My role is to be a mother. קראה לבן הרביעי בשם יהודה. הפעם אודה את השם Kar'ah la'ben ha'revi'i b'shem Yehuda. Hapa'am odeh es Hashem. היא הודתה להקדוש ברוך הוא מהכרת סדר תפקידה בעולם Hi hod'sa l'Hakadosh Baruch Hu m'hakaras seder tafkida ba'olam. What she's thanking Hashem for is, I've discovered my mission and my purpose. I've been fighting it. I've been resisting it. I've been trying to get you to change it, Hashem. But now I see it, I understand it, and I accept it. And for that, I say thank you. When I see and understand where my know my place in the world, I say, thank you. I say thank you. ולכן למדנו מזה יסוד גדול V'lachen lamadnu m'zeh yesod gadol, we should learn something big. להיות שמח בחלקו בחיים L'hiyos sameach b'chelko b'chaim וגם להודות להשם על זה v'gam l'hodos l'Hashem al zeh. The idea of being שמח בחלקו sameach b'chelko, happy with your lot in life, we're all familiar with. Be happy with your lot in life. איי Ay, unlike the ladder, it doesn't compete or compare to somebody else's lot in life. So what? Be happy with your lot in life. Leah taught us, don't only be happy with your lot in life, be grateful. Be capable to express gratitude for your lot in life. Now, it happens to be, fast forward, Leah thinks all I ever wanted to be is Yaakov's wife. Rochel says, all I ever want to be is a mother. Leah says, my dream is unrealized and unfulfilled, I'll never be Yaakov's number one. Rochel says my dream is unfulfilled. Here I am still barren and longing. But look at the end of their lives, the legacy each leaves. Where is Leah buried? במערת המכפלה B'Me'aras Hamachpeila next to Yaakov. For eternity and in perpetuity, it is Leah that lies with Yaakov, while Rochel is in קבר רחל kever Rochel, nowhere to be found. And in perpetuity, all Rochel ever dreamed of and wanted, we don't call her מאמא לאה Mama Leah. We don't have all kinds of gatherings to לדאווען l'daven to our מאמא לאה Mama Leah. She is known forever as our מאמא רחל Mama Rochel. מאמא רחל Mama Rochel, cry for us again. מאמא רחל Mama Rochel, Shwekey. Cry for us again. מאמא רחל Mama Rochel. So each one throughout their lives thought they were denied their dream, but ultimately their legacy in perpetuity is exactly their dream. Leah is Yaakov's wife with Rochel buried elsewhere, and Rochel is מאמא רחל Mama Rochel. She remains forever our mother. She is forever our מאמא רחל Mama Rochel. Forever our מאמא רחל Mama Rochel. I'm out of time. One more, two more. I said I was going to get to the end of the parsha, and I failed again. I am a failure, but as I wrote about last week, sometimes you got to punt the end of the parsha. And when you know when to punt, hopefully ultimately you're going to win. I punt a lot. The פרשה שיעור parsha shiur. We'll do one more which is Rabbi Soloveitchik's insight. Oh, man. I really wanted to tell you this other one, but it's too long. Rabbi Soloveitchik's insight on those same words, הפעם אודה את השם hapa'am odeh es Hashem. Says Rabbi Soloveitchik, the concept of thanksgiving involves expressing gratitude to God for that which had been attained while accepting that it's impossible to acquire everything. What Leah introduced us to, it's very similar to what Rav Shmuel Berenbaum just said. What Leah introduced us to was saying thank you even when you realize it's not everything you want. We thought that thank you always meant when I get, when I'm answered for everything I want in a particular situation, then I say thank you. But maybe I don't offer thanks. when I only get partially what I want. What Leah introduced us to is that it's worthy and warranted and we have a responsibility to say thank you even when we don't get everything that we want. Only after her fourth son was born did Leah finally resign herself to the truth of her relationship with יעקב Yaakov. So even though she did not get what she wanted with יעקב Yaakov, she realized, you know what? Even when my dreams are incomplete, it's still warrants a thank you. Okay, one more I did want to tell you. We got a new ספר sefer. Thank you to my friend Mendy who's always sending me new ספרים svarim. It's called שללו של רבינו מאיר שמחה Shlalo shel Rabbeinu Meir Simcha. It's a collection of רב מאיר שמחה Rav Meir Simcha of Dvinsk, his תורה Torah from משך חכמה Meshech Chochma, אור שמח Or Sameach, חידושים על הש\"ס Chidushim al HaShas, and other ספרים svarim. All רב מאיר שמחה Rav Meir Simcha of Dvinsk, his תורה Torah organized based on פרשה parsha. So very quickly, we'll end with this. The תורה Torah tells us, פרק ל\"ב perek lamed beis, פסוק א' pasuk aleph, very end of our פרשה parsha. Now יעקב Yaakov has worked for רחל Rochel, worked for לאה Leah, shepherds, spotted, speckled, takes leave of לבן Lavan, goes on his way, and when they part, פרק ל\"ב perek lamed beis, פסוק א' pasuk aleph, just bear with me one more minute, we'll end with this. Page 160 at the very end of our פרשה parsha. וישכם לבן בבקר וינשק לבניו ולבנותיו Vayashkem Lavan baboker vayenachek levanav velivnosav. לבן Lavan wakes up in the morning, kisses his children, ויברך אתם vayivarches and gives them a ברכה bracha. You see from here the power of a ברכה bracha parents to children. Even the wicked, evil, lowlife לבן Lavan understands the gift and the blessing of being a parent. Hug and kiss, keep tight, and bless them. וילך וישב לבן למקומו Vayelech vayashov Lavan limkomo, ויעקב הלך לדרכו veYaakov halach ledarko. לבן Lavan goes למקומו limkomo and יעקב Yaakov goes לדרכו ledarko. Says רב מאיר שמחה Rav Meir Simcha, לא בכדי שינתה התורה את לשונה Lo bechdi shinsa haTorah es leshona. It's not for naught that the תורה Torah shifts its language, that לבן Lavan went למקומו limkomo to his place, and יעקב Yaakov goes לדרכו ledarko on his path. What does this mean? Says רב מאיר שמחה Rav Meir Simcha, מי שיש לו איש קדוש כיעקב בתוך ביתו, הלא ראוי להתבשם ממעשיו ובחכמתו, לקיים בו הולך את חכמים יחכם Mi sheyeish lo ish kadosh keYaakov besoch beiso, halo rauy lehisbasem mimaasav u'vechachmasav, lekayem bo holech es chachamim yechkam. ולא כן היה Velo kein haya. כי כאשר הלך יעקב, שב לבן למקומו הראשון Ki kaasher halach Yaakov, shav Lavan limkomo harishon. לבן Lavan went, לבן Lavan lived all these years with יעקב Yaakov. לבן Lavan was gifted for a צדיק tzaddik, a righteous, holy man to live in his midst all this time, and yet when they part, you know where לבן Lavan went? למקומו Limkomo. Right back to the place he was in before he ever met or lived with יעקב Yaakov. לבן Lavan goes למקומו limkomo. Do we revert back to exactly who we were? We have a privilege, we have an opportunity, we have a chance. We get to host somebody big, somebody special. We go on a special mission, special trip. We attend a wonderful, great שיעור shiur. After whatever experience we have, are we שב למקומו shav limkomo? Do we go right back to the place we were in? Do we revert right back to our default? Are we not transformed? Are we unchanged? Do we go right back to who we were? That's לבן Lavan. לבן Lavan lives with יעקב Yaakov, and instead of being influenced by him, he returns, וישב לבן למקומו vayashov Lavan limkomo. He goes right back to that same place of loving money and deceit and of skewed values and priorities. Whereas יעקב Yaakov, where does he go? יעקב Yaakov, says רב מאיר שמחה Rav Meir Simcha, יעקב הלך לדרכו Yaakov halach ledarko. הצדיק והתלמיד חכם האמיתי הוא הולך ממקום ראשון למעלה לגדלות Hatzaddik v'hatalmid chacham ha'amiti hu holech mimakom rishon lemaaleh l'gadlos. לדרכו Ledarko. He's back on the path. He's growing, he's progressing, he's achieving, he's learning, he's advancing. לבן Lavan goes למקומו limkomo. לבן Lavan, this is who I am. Take it. This is it. What you see is what you get. This is who I am. This is who I am forever. He just goes back to his place, whereas יעקב Yaakov goes where? לדרכו Ledarko. Back on the path. The path of growth, the path of progress, the path of achievement. I thought it was a beautiful משך חכמה Meshech Chochma. We'll end with it. Stay happy, stay holy, stay healthy. Should be a day of בשורות טובות ישועות besuros tovos yeshuos.
