A Glimpse of the Future

Parshas Vayechi

Posted on December 14, 2021 (5782) By Rabbi Naftali Reich | Series: Legacy | Level: Beginner

 

If we could look into the future and discover when the major events in our lives will take place, would we do it? If we could ascertain the exact dates on which we will marry, have children and pass away from this world, would we want to know? Most people would rather live with the uncertainty than face the possibility of an unpleasant certainty.

 

In this week’s portion, however, we seem to find an opposite view. As the final minutes of his life draw near, the old patriarch Jacob summons his sons to his bedside. With his great powers of divine inspiration, he sees the long exile of the Jewish people stretching far into the future, but as he continues to look, he also sees the arrival of the End of Days when the exile will come to an end.

“Gather around,” he says to his family, “and I will tell you about the End of Days.” But then he goes on to speak of other matters. What happened? The Sages tell us that Jacob attempted to reveal the end of history to his family. But the Divine Spirit departed from him, and his vision faded away.

The questions immediately arise: Why did Jacob want to tell them when the exile would come to an end? Especially in light of what we now know, that it would take thousands of years, wouldn’t it only have disheartened and discouraged them? Furthermore, if Jacob felt there was a purpose in telling them, why indeed didn’t Hashem allow him to do so?

 

The commentators explain that Jacob had no intention of revealing the date of the End of Days to his children. There certainly would have been no point in doing so. Rather, he wanted to give them a glimpse of what awaits them in the End of Days. He wanted them to see the idyllic future world suffused with the unrestricted emanations of the Divine Presence, a world of perfect harmony and peace in which all humankind will be blessed with unlimited knowledge and transcendent insight. This was the image he wanted to impress on their minds so that they would not succumb to despair during the tribulations of the dark years of exile.

 

But Hashem did not allow him to do so. The kindness of a father’s heart had motivated Jacob to reveal this image to his children, but as is often the case, this well-intentioned kindness would ultimately deprive them of immeasurable reward. If the Jewish people had seen a clear prophetic image of the rewards in store for them in the future, they would naturally be motivated to persevere and struggle against all odds to fulfill the Torah and achieve those rewards. In that case, though, they would be doing it for their own benefit rather than out of love for Hashem. But as long as they have no such images in their minds, their continued loyalty to the Creator through the worst of times remains an expression of incredibly powerful faith and love for Him, and their reward will be proportionately bountiful.

 

A mother gave her two sons jigsaw puzzles and sent them off to play.

A long while later, she went to check on the them. Both boys had completed their puzzles.

One of them jumped up and ran to her. “Look, it’s all done,” he said proudly. “Could you frame it and hang it on the wall?”

“Certainly,” she said. Then she turned to her other son and asked, “Do you want me to frame yours as well?”

 

The boy shrugged and shook his head. “Nah. It was no big deal. You don’t have to.”

The mother was perplexed. “But your brother wants his framed. Why don’t you want the same for yours?”

 

“Well, I’ll tell you,” said the boy. “He didn’t look at the picture before he did the puzzle, so I guess it was a pretty big deal for him. But I looked at the picture first, so it wasn’t such a big deal.”

 

In our own lives, we are all faced with periods of discouragement and even hopelessness during which we would be much relieved if we could steal a glimpse of Hashem’s hidden hand at work. How much easier it would be to deal with the vicissitudes of fortune if we understood how everything leads to the ultimate good. But it is in this very darkness, when we stand on the verge of despair, that we must discern Hashem’s closeness by our faith alone and feel ourselves enveloped in His loving embrace..

 

Text Copyright © 2009 by Rabbi Naftali Reich and Torah.org.

Rabbi Reich is on the faculty of the Ohr Somayach Tanenbaum Education Center.

 

Aging Gracefully

Parshas Vayechi

Posted on December 14, 2021 (5782) By Rabbi Pinchas Avruch | Series: Kol HaKollel | Level: Beginner

 

“And it came to pass after these matters that [the messenger] said to Yosef (Joseph), ‘Behold, your father is ill.’…(Beraishis/Genesis 48:1) This is the first time in the history of the world that someone became sick.

 

Yalkut Shimoni (1)(Chayai Sarah 105) narrates that Avraham requested from G-d the phenomenon of visible aging, for he feared that when father and son entered a room people would not know whom to give honor first, so G-d granted him his wish, with him as the first recipient. Yitzchak (Isaac) requested suffering before death, for he feared the result of the process of Divine judgment if one never had the warning to do teshuva (regret one’s misdeeds and resolve to return to G-d’s path), so G-d granted him his wish, with him as the first recipient. Yaakov (Jacob) requested illness, for he feared the consequences of not having a few days to resolve outstanding issues between one’s children. G-d granted him his wish, with him as the first recipient.

 

Michtav Me’Eliyahu (2) explains that each of our saintly forefathers made requests consistent with his most pronounced character trait. Avraham, known for his acts of chesed (loving kindness), appreciated the need for giving genuine honor to his fellow human. G-d concurred to the great impediment this indistinguishability placed on one’s Divine service through chesed. Yitzchak’s focus was on justice, and he recognized the great tragedy in the afterlife that awaited one who did not do teshuva. Therefore, he beseeched a mechanism in this life that would awaken the consciousness to this inevitability so that the requisite correction could be made. Yaakov’s pursuit was perfection and completion, seeking resolution between opposing forces. Prior to death, a simple declaration of one’s will was insufficient; efforts needed to be made to ensure that the children accepted the determination. He understood that there would continue to be jealousy unless everyone genuinely felt his interests had been served, that there could be no peace (shalom) between parties without feeling a sense of wholeness (shleimus). This could not be accomplished with the suddenness that accompanied natural death at that time. G-d’s accommodation was extended illness.

 

Rabbi Akiva taught us (Tractate Berachos 60b) that one should regularly remind himself that all that G-d does is for the good. There are tragedies that challenge our faith in this maxim, such as the difficulties that comes with aging. But our Sages remind us often that trials are given to us as growth opportunities (see Kol HaKollel Parshas Lech Lecha 5764), and G-d, in his infinite kindness and love for us, granted our forefathers’ requests for the growth opportunities of aging. Our challenge is to maximize our utilization of them.

 

Have a Good Shabbos!

(1) most comprehensive Midrashic anthology, covering the entirety of the Tanach (Bible); attributed to Rabbi Shimon HaDarshan of Frankfurt of the thirteenth century

(2) collected writings and discourses of Rabbi Eliyahu Dessler (1891-1954) of London and B’nai Brak, one of the outstanding personalities and thinkers of the Mussar movement

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Copyright © 2004 by Rabbi Pinchas Avruch and Torah.org

 

 A Strong Dose of Truth

Parshas Vayechi

Posted on December 17, 2021 (5782) By Rabbi Label Lam | Series: Dvar Torah | Level: Beginner

 

 

Shimon and Levi are brothers; stolen instruments are their weapons. Let my soul not enter their counsel; my honor, you shall not join their assembly, for in their wrath they killed a man, and with their will they hamstrung a bull. Cursed be their wrath for it is mighty, and their anger because it is harsh. I will separate them throughout Yaakov, and I will scatter them throughout Israel. (Breishis 49:5-7)

 

Shimon and Levi did not seem to get what we would call a compliment from their father Yaakov. Yet these parting words were his blessing. How can such a brutally honest analysis be considered a blessing?

 

One of my great teachers once told us about a very traumatic episode that occurred to him when he was but a young boy. He was in the country – upstate for the summer and one day he was strolling with his father, who was a wealthy businessman and another man that he described as a German Jew. His father was also a European Jew from Switzerland and the two men were walking and talking together as he tagged along. The conversation was dominated by this German Jew telling of the great opportunity there was to be found in Wisconsin. Wisconsin has this and that. It was clear he was making a pitch to invest in some business venture in Wisconsin.

 

Now my Rebbe told us that he was a young precocious boy and he had devoured the encyclopedia and he knew a little bit about a lot and so he asserted himself into the conversation, “What’s the big deal about Wisconsin!? There are only so many people in the whole state. There are more cows than people etc.” Now the European expectation was that children should be seen but not heard from, but this was an American kid and he had clearly broken ranks and violated that protocol.

 

At that moment this German Jew turned to him with fury and berated him repeatedly, “What you don’t know, don’t talk about! What you don’t know, don’t talk about!” My Rebbe told us that he was shaken by the event. It shook him to his core. That moment of what felt like verbal abuse scarred his psyche and left him upset for the rest of the summer. That’s what happened!

 

65 years later, my Rebbe tells us, his father had already left this world but his elderly mother, now in her mid – 90’s was living nearby in relatively good health with a fulltime aid and a nurse. One Erev Shabbos he gets an urgent call from the nurse that his mother has a fever and her blood pressure is weak. He tells them to run to the emergency room and he will meet them there.

 

The doctor on call steps out from behind the curtain after examining his mother and tells my Rebbe, “You mother has an infection but we can easily treat it with penicillin. Do you know whether or not your mother is allergic to penicillin?” My Rebbe said that he started to think to himself, “I’m not allergic. My sisters are not allergic. My brother is not allergic to penicillin. So, my mother is probably not allergic either.” He is about to declare with confidence that his mother is not allergic to penicillin, when suddenly a voice from 65 years earlier charged into the present moment and arrested him in mid-sentence, “What you don’t know, don’t talk about! What you don’t know don’t talk about!” He looks up at the doctor and honestly admits that he does not know whether or not his mother is allergic to penicillin. The doctor said that he can easily check it out on her medical records. He comes back moments later and declares, “Well, it turns out that your mother is allergic to penicillin.”

Had he spoken what he assumed to be true and had he not been revisited by that brutish and furious voice at that very moment then, based on his word the doctor would have administered penicillin and given her already weakened state, he would have brought about the early demise of his beloved mother.

 

The Mishne in Brochos tells us, “One is obligated to recite a blessing for the bad just as he recites a blessing for the good, as it is stated: “And you shall love HASHEM your G-d with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might”” (Devarim 6:5). We see that what seems bad in a given moment is also worthy of a blessing. A negative experience might prove to be a blessing in disguise. So, Shimon and Levi were blessed with a strong dose of truth.