Heart to Heart
Posted on November 20, 2007 (5768) By
Rabbi Naftali Reich | Series: Legacy
| Level: Beginner
Divine providence seems
to work in strange ways, especially for Joseph languishing in an Egyptian
prison. Unjustly accused of making advances to Potiphar’s wife, Joseph has been
thrown into the dungeon and left there to rot. But destiny requires that he be
released and elevated to high office in the royal palace, and to affect this
important result, divine providence contrives a very outlandish set of
circumstances.
As we read in this
week’s Torah portion, ten years after his incarceration Joseph meets up with
two discredited palace functionaries, the royal cupbearer and the royal baker.
One morning, he finds them despondent. He questions them and discovers that
they both had disturbing dreams the previous night. He offers astute
interpretations of their dreams, and the sequence of events bears out his
predictions. Two years later, when Pharaoh has his own puzzling dreams, the
cupbearer remembers Joseph’s interpretive skills and recommends him to Pharaoh.
Joseph is brought to the palace, where his brilliant interpretations and wisdom
win him high office, and the rest is history.
This story certainly
makes for high drama, but why were all these farfetched developments necessary?
Why didn’t divine providence manifest itself in a simpler way? Couldn’t
Joseph’s release and rise to power have been affected through more commonplace
events?
The commentators
explain that Joseph’s release from prison is meant to serve as a paradigm of
the ultimate in human emancipation. The vicissitudes of life can cause a person
to experience confinement of many sorts, not only physical incarceration but
also psychological and emotional bondage of the spirit, which can often be far
more painful.
How is a person to
extricate himself from these situations? How can he escape the isolation
sometimes imposed by his conditions? The answer is to focus on the needs of
others. As long as a person is absorbed in his own miserable condition, he
cannot help but wallow in self-pity to some degree and to walk on the edge of
despair. Once he shifts his focus to others, however, his presence in
confinement is no longer purposeless and negative. On the contrary, his is a
positive presence bringing relief to others and fulfillment to himself. By
freeing the spirit, he will in effect have emancipated himself from the
shackles of his condition.
Joseph personified this approach. Unjustly accused and
imprisoned, he did not withdraw into himself to bemoan his awful fate. Instead,
he immediately became the heart and soul of the prison, always there to help a
stricken inmate. In this sense, he effected his own emancipation even as he
still remained confined within the prison walls. And to drive home the point, Hashem
contrived that his actual physical release should also be the result of the
kindness he performed for others.
A prisoner was thrown
into a cell with a large number of other prisoners. The walls of the prison
were thick and damp, and high up on one side, far above the heads of even the
tallest prisoners, was a tiny, heavily barred window that looked out over a
barren piece of land. Every day, the new prisoner would drag his bed to the
wall under the window. Then he would climb onto the bed, stand on his tiptoes
and, stretching, was just able to rest his chin on the stone window sill. The
other prisoners gathered in groups to talk or play games, but the new prisoner
never participated. He just stood there all day, staring out the window.
“What do you see out
there?” a prisoner asked him.
“Nothing,” he replied.
“Then why do you stand
there all day?”
“As long as I look out
at the world outside,” the new prisoner replied, “I still feel a little
connection with it. I still have a little bit of my freedom. But once I turn
away from this window and look only at the cell and my cellmates, all my
freedom will be gone. Once I surrender to my situation, I will truly be
imprisoned.”
In our own lives, we are often pummeled by the slings and
arrows of outrageous fortune. Assailed by financial difficulties, family and
childrearing problems, pressure in the workplace and all sorts of other strains
and stresses, we can easily find ourselves becoming gloomy and depressed. So,
what can we do? How can we regain the equilibrium and morale we need to deal
with our problems constructively? By throwing ourselves into helping families
less fortunate than ourselves or an important community project. For one thing,
focusing on others immediately relieves the distress of our own situations. But
more important, it elevates us spiritually and allows us to view our troubles
in the broader perspective of what has lasting value in the ultimate scheme of
things and what does not.
Text Copyright © 2007
by Rabbi Naftali Reich and Torah.org.
Lets End The Blame Game
Posted on November 14, 2013 (5774) By
Rabbi Naftali Reich | Series: Legacy
| Level: Beginner
Yaakov has overcome the
tremendous trials of living for over twenty years in an alien environment and
being subjected to severe challenges and injustices. It was under these trying
circumstances that Yaakov married and raised the ‘shivtei kah;’ the founding
pillars of the Jewish people. After fleeing Lavan’s home, he encountered Eisav
and succeeded in subjugating his brother’s angels, and was finally ready to
make a triumphant return to his parents’ home.
Yet his ordeals were
far from over. Just when he looked forward to a period of respite, the tragic
story of Dina’s abduction and violation at the hands of Shechem ben Chamor,
befell him, followed by his sons’ devastating strike against Shechem in
retaliation for the outrage.
How did this tragic
chain of events come about? How could Providence have permitted Dina to be
subjected to such a humiliating assault?
Our tradition teaches
that many factors contributed to this disaster. The Torah tells us that Dina
went out to associate with the ‘daughters of the land’; the local girls. It
seems her objective was simply to examine their culture and lifestyle. She was
taken to task for this choice, as the verse says: ‘kol kevuda bas melech
pnima’; a princess’ place is in the home. In mingling with the gentile
population, she compromised her modesty and so she, in turn, was compromised.
In another place, our
sages indicate that her behavior was influenced by her mother, Leah, who, our
sages call a “yatzanis;” one who tends to put herself forward even when not
wholly appropriate. Leah went out to the field to greet Yaakov, informing him
of her desire to be with him that evening. Dina’s desire to go forth “among the
daughters of the land” is seen as an outgrowth of her mother’s tendency to act
in an immoderately forward manner.
Our sages also view
Yaakov as carrying an element of responsibility for the tragedy that befell
Dina as well. Rashi tells us (chapter 32; verse 22) that before his encounter
with Eisav, Yaakov placed Dina in a chest so that Eisav should not gaze upon
her and desire her as a wife. For this, he was punished by having her fall into
the hands of Shechem. Had Eisav married Dina, Rashi says, she may have
influenced him so profoundly, he would have repented.
Dina’s experience of being
locked away from the world in a chest likely piqued her curiosity, sharpening
her desire to investigate her surroundings. After all, when we excessively restrict our children from engaging the
outside world, the temptation to taste the forbidden fruits and wander off the
reservation is so much more acute.
Lastly, our sages
tell us that Yaakov deserved to have his daughter abducted for tarrying
excessively before returning home to his parents, who surely missed him and
longed to see him. (Rashi Chapter 35;verse 1).
The sad and sorry
saga that unfolded in Shechem was precipitated by a complex interplay of
factors, as we have seen. From the perspective of our sages, we gain access to
an even deeper dimension. Through these bizarre events, Hashem was planting the
seeds and orchestrating events for later generations.
Our sages tell us that
the union of Dina and Shechem gave birth to Osnas, who later became the wife of
Yosef, the forbears of two of the twelve tribes, Ephraim and Menashe. For the
Divine plan to be brought to fruition, it was necessary that Yosef marry one
who was born of the union between polar opposites; the profane and the sacred.
Dina’s daughter, Osnas, chose to connect to her mother’s spiritual legacy of
sanctity.
This fascinating story is but one example of the
multidimensional underpinnings of events that appear deceptively simple on the
surface. The Divine plan that drives human events is so sublime and
unfathomable, we are only afforded a tiny glimpse from time to time of its
breathtaking sweep.
In our own lives, we can learn from the events in this portion
how to view our own lapses of judgment. We tend to blame ourselves, and often
find fault with our upbringing. We examine our parents’ disposition and deflect
the blame for our own poor choices onto our forbearers. But all of this is an
exercise in futility and misses the point.
This week’s portion teaches us that our job is to embrace the
circumstances of our life even if they seem to be the product of our own faulty
judgments. Instead of turning to recrimination, our task is to view Divine
providence, in the context of history and our own personal lives, as the
supreme guiding force. In the end, all will be understood and revealed as being
part of a Divine plan designed for our own personal benefit and the benefit of
the world at large.
Wishing you a
wonderful Shabbos,
Rabbi Naftali Reich
Text Copyright © 2013
by Rabbi Naftali Reich and Torah.org.
Filters
Posted on November 14, 2013 (5774) By
Rabbi Label Lam | Series: Dvar Torah
| Level: Beginner
And Yaakov sent
angels in front of him to Eisav his brother to the land of Seir to the field of
Edom. And he commanded them saying; “So you shall say to my master to Eisav; So
says Yaakov your servant; “I have lived with Lavan and tarried till now and I
have oxen and donkeys and sheep and servants and maid servants and I am sending
to my master to find grace in your eyes…”(Breishis 32:3-5)
And Yaakov sent
angels: Real angels! (Rashi)
It’s quite remarkable
that Yaakov had such control over the angelic world that he could direct them
to represent him and speak on his behalf. Not
many people who have walked on this planet can make such a claim. It’s hard
enough for us to have control over our own actions, words, thoughts, and
emotions. Yaakov must have been a master of his world. The truth is that we too
produce angels daily and constantly.
The Nefesh HaChaim
writes; “Every Jewish person should not say in his heart, heaven forfend,
‘what am I and what impact do my lowly deeds have in the world?’ Rather, he
should understand that every minute detail of his actions, and his speech, and
his thoughts, each and every moment is not lost! How powerful are his actions
and very great and lofty too, for everyone according to the root of his soul,
to impact and effect in the highest of heights, and the purest of lights. In
truth, a man who is wise and understands this clearly, his heart will tremble
within him a great shuddering when he considers his actions that are not good
and how far they reach to destroy and ruin with even a slight misstep…”
Everyone has power to
release angels, extraordinarily productive and destructive too! The Sefas Emes
says that these are the angels sent by Yaakov, and that according to the Zohar
there are angels created from both the Yetzer Hora and the Yetzer Tov! He
states that the angels generated from the Yetzer Hora can have more protective
powers than those created from the Yetzer Tov!
A person might just
be sent into a panic mode with the power of the information provided here.
After all, one the things a person is not save from each day, the Talmud tells
us, is “bad thoughts”. What’s a person to do?!
Here is an important
life-saving point. Imagine for a moment a player for one of the famous sports
teams is standing in his position, let’s say, center fielder for the Yankees. A
fan throws a Frisbee onto the field and he jogs over casually to toss it back
into the stands so no one will stumble on it. Nobody will fault him for this
Frisbee toss. However, if he starts to have a catch with the left fielder, and
during live game time, he’s a candidate for bench warming.
It was once explained
to me by a great person, that just as there are arenas, and stages by which
things come into reality, through “thought, “speech” and “action”, so too in
the world of thought there are levels, such as “the “thought of thought”, the
“speech of thought” and, the “action of thought”. The same goes for the realm
of speech and action as well. “I’ll spare you.
Based on this we can understand a very important question.
“What is the difference between crazy people and everybody else?” The answer is
simple! Filters!
We don’t say everything we think! We don’t even develop every
thought that “pops up” on the screen of our mind. We have filters. Once
something is halted at the “thought of thought” and is prevented from entering
the “speech of thought” or the “action of thought”, we are then spared from its
harmful effects. However, a crazy person has a broken filter.
He may say whatever he thinks. Even more dangerously he can
act on a wild unscreened thought. When we hear about the depraved behavior of a
lunatic letting loose his fury, we can understand well that which was lost
before his sanity, was his filters.
DvarTorah, Copyright
© 2007 by Rabbi Label Lam and Torah.org.
