B"H

Tuesday, Kislev 8, 5781 / November 24, 2020

In this week's Parsha, Vayeitzei, we read about Yaakov’s dream, in which G-d said to him, "The land on which you are lying, to you I will give it and to your descendants.  And your seed shall be like the dust of the earth and you shall spread abroad to the west, to the east, to the north and to the south.  And in you and your children shall all the families of the earth be blessed."

Yaakov wakes upand makes the following vow, "If G-d will be with me and will protect me in this way, He will give me bread to eat and clothing to wear and I will return to my father's house in peace, and the L-rd will be my G-d... From everything which You will give me, I will give one tenth to You". 

Tzedakah (charity) is an important mitzvah and has special powers, as we see from the following Talmudic sayings: Rabbi Assi said, "The mitzvah of Tzedakah is compared to all other mitzvot put together."

Rabbi Elazar, "Why is charity likened to armor? Just like the coat of armor is made of many small pieces, so too, every peruta and peruta (small coin)adds up to a great total."

Rabbi Chanina said, "Why is Tzedaka compared to a garment? Just like a garment is made up of many threads, so too, each coin and coin given to charity adds up to a great amount."

Rabbi Dustai ben Reb Yanai explains the greatness of Tzedakah, "When a simple person presents a gift to a great king, the gift may or may not be accepted by the king.  Even if it is accepted, one is still not guaranteed the privilege of meeting the king.  But one who gives even a peruta (small coin)to a poor person acquires great merit and enters the presence of G-d.  As is written in Psalms (17:15), "Through Tzedek (from the word Tzedakah) I will see Your face!".

Rabbi Yishmael says, “Whoever trims their possessions and gives to charity will be saved from harsh judgment in the after-life. This is similar to two sheep who were crossing the water. One was sheared and one was not. The sheared lamb will easily pass through the water, while the other one will be weighed down by all the water absorbed in its wool.

The Prophet Isaiah (chapter 10) uses the expression, "plant your charity..." Our sages explain “planting charity” as follows: If a person walks down the street and loses $100, he/she will, naturally, agonize over it. However, when a person loses the contents of a sack of wheat while walking through his field and next year finds his field full of freshly grown wheat it would be foolish to think that had he not lost the sack of wheat last year he would have more now!  For everything he has now is a direct result of the "loss" which he had. This is why Isaiah states; "Plant your charity."

This is the Torah way of viewing giving charity – It’s like planting. Giving is getting.

HAVE A VERY GOOD, HAPPY, HEALTHY AND SUCCESSFUL DAY

B"H

Thursday, Kislev 10, 5781 / November 26, 2020

Questions & Answers on Parshat Vayeitzei:

Q.  How old was Yaakov (Jacob) when he left his parents’ home?

A.   Sixty three years old.

Q.  How old was he when he came to his uncle Lavan? How old when he married Leah & Rachel?

A.  He was 77 when he came to Lavan.  He was 84 when he married Leah and Rachel.

Q.  Where was he for fourteen years between leaving his home and coming to Lavan?

A.   He spent fourteen years at the Yeshiva, the Torah study center, with Eiver.

Q.  Who was Eiver?

A.   Eiver was the great great grandson of Noah.

Q.  How is it possible that he studied Torah which was given at Mount Sinai hundreds of years later?

A.  The Talmudic sages tell us that the Torah was here long before the creation of the universe.  In fact, the Torah is called the “blueprints of the world.”  Like a builder who builds a house according to the design on his blueprint, so too, G-d created the universe according to the pattern of His Torah.

Although the Torah was given to all the Jewish people at Mount Sinai, our forefathers, Abraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov knew and studied Torah which they had through Divine inspiration.  Before coming to his father-in-law, Lava, Yaakov spent 14 years studying Torah.

Q.  The Torah tells that when Yaakov met Rachel, at the well, he cried.  Why did he cry?

A.Our sages give two reasons: 1) He knew that she would not be buried together with him in the cave of the Patriarchs and Matriarchs. 2) Jacob was penniless when he came to Charan. He was distressed that he had nothing to offer her as a gift, unlike his mother Rivkah, who was showered with gifts when Eliezer met her at the well. Not being able to give her any gifts made Yaakov cry.

Q.  How many years did Yaakov stay with Lavan?

A.  Twenty years. Yaakov worked fourteen years for the “privilege” to marry Lavan’s two daughters, Leah and Rachel. He also married Bilhaa and Zilpa. He then worked another six years to accumulate wealth before returning with his wives and children to his homeland. His youngest son, Binyamin, was born when he returned to what would later become The Land of Israel.

HAVE A VERY GOOD, HAPPY, HEALTHY AND SUCCESSFUL DAY

B"H

Friday, Kislev 11, 5781 / November 27, 2020

Our sages say that whatever happened to our forefathers, Abraham, Isaac and Yaakov, the patriarchs of the Jewish people, is a sign and guide for their descendants.  Thus, the stories the Torah tells about the Patriarchs and Matriarchs are not merely to tell us historical events of thousands of years ago, but to serve as a lesson for every Jew, in every country, in every generation.

One of the episodes told in this week’s Parsha, Vayeitzei, is about Yaakov’s travel to Charan to the home of his uncle and future father-in-law, Lavan, where he spent twenty years.

On the way he passed by Mount Moriah, the mountain upon which G-d’s tenth test to Abraham was performed, the place where G-d tested Abraham if he was ready to bring his beloved son, Isaac, as a sacrifice. There Yaakov prayed and went to sleep for the night. There Yaakov made his final preparations before leaving the land, which was later to be the homeland of the Jewish people. He continued to Charan, which comes from the same Hebrew root word as “anger.” Charan was a place where the people’s actions angered G-d.

How does Yaakov prepare himself for this transition from the holy land and the security of his parents’ home to this unholy place? The Torah tells us that after he prayed, “He took from the stones of that place and placed them around his head.”

The Torah commentator, Rashi, explains the reason that Jacob placed the stones around his head, “Because he was afraid of the wild beasts.”  He placed the stones around his head for protection. But the obvious question is: If Yaakov was afraid for his physical welfare why did he place the stones only around his head?  He should have placed them around his entire body for protection?

The Lubavitcher Rebbe explains: Yaakov knew that coming to Charan he would have to work for his father-in-law; build a family and would have to deal with physical and monetary matters. He was afraid that they may pull him away from his connection to G-d. He was worried that he may be too involved in making a living and thus forget the purpose of it all; that everything is from G-d, Who gives us the strength to accomplish whatever we have to accomplish.

Thus, Yaakov placed “the stones of that place around his head.”  He said to himself, “Even when I will have to work and be involved in my family’s physical success, my head; i.e. my thoughts will be protected by the holy stones of this holy place upon which the Holy Temple would later be built, so that the Torah study of these fourteen years and the holy atmosphere of my parent’s home will stay with me throughout the years in Charan.

This is a lesson for every one of us. Although we spend so much of our time being involved in our physical and monetary success, we must remember the purpose of it all. We have to place as much emphasis on our spiritual success as on our physical and make sure that they enhance each other.

SHABBAT SHALOM

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