Category — Vayechi

Moshke came home with breaking news: “The rabbi just announced that some Moshiach guy is coming soon, and plans on taking us all to Israel!”

Shprintza was horrified: “To Israel? How could we leave the cows alone? Oy vey!”

Moshke runs back to the rabbi to voice his wife’s objections.

The rabbi says: “Moshke! Forget about cows, when Moshiach comes and we go to Israel, we will never have to suffer from the Cossacks and anti-Semites! No more fear!”

When Shprintza heard what the rabbi had said, she came up with a brilliant idea: “Listen Moshke, go tell the rabbi, to tell this Moshiach dude, to take the Cossacks with him to Israel, and leave us alone!”

***

Who needs Moshiach?

Well, if you had lived in Poland in 1940, or in Russia 1960, in Spain 1492, ah! Then Moshiach sounded like a good idea. But in our ‘life-is-great’ free world, who cares about redemption? Redemption of what?

Mafia? Terrorists? Let Moshiach take the crooks and villains and leave us be.

So maybe this Moshiach stuff is not what you think. Take a look in “our” Torah portion.

Jacob is in Egypt, and life is great. His son Joseph is world renowned as the savior. The rest of his sons have built a flourishing Jewish community with Yeshiva’s and synagogues in the suburbs of Egypt. The Family cattle business is prospering, and all is well.

All is well? Then why when it comes time to be buried, Jacob insists to be taken to Israel? Ok, you want to be buried in the Holy-Land, but to leave your family? Your children need you for inspiration and strength!

That is just it! Jacob wanted with all his heart to remain with his offspring’s, however knowing how connected his children felt to him, he feared that were he to be buried in Egypt they will never leave! So Jacob had self sacrifice, he left his beloved family, just that they should know that exile is not home.

A Jew in exile, no matter how nice and dandy it may seem, is not home.

When Moshiach comes we will serve a revealed G-d, no more hiding-and-seek games with Hashem. That is redemption, a time when we serve G-d in a G-dly world.

True, there will be no suffering and no restraints, but that is only an outcome of the infinite light that will shine. Duh! When G-d is seen by all, obviously no one will do evil!

That was Jacob’s lesson! Get out! Don’t be at peace with the situation, this is not the ideal.

Cows? Money? Who needs ‘em, we are gonna have the real McCoy!

Well, he’s coming.

Hurry! Ready or not, here he comes.

Mr. Cohen gives $1 every week to a particular beggar in his town. One week he sees the beggar and gives him only 25 cents. The beggar is indignant and complains, “Why did you give me only 25 cents?” Mr. Cohen replies: “My business was bad last week.” The beggar responds: “So you had a bad week and I have to suffer?”
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It’s in the human psyche that only after we have “made it” somewhere in life do we begin to feel that we exist, that we are important. Only after we can stare at a plaque or a trophy, can we somewhat stop pinching ourselves with the question, “Do I really exist?”
Teenagers are encouraged to leave their past behind them and start life anew: “You can still make it in life” is the slogan of choice amongst coaches of the youth.
Of course, there is strong validity to that approach, for those who have suffered, their pride shattered, must take their minds off their past and look toward the future.
Yet at the same time, life will never truly begin anew, for people always carry with them all that has happened in their lives. They may disregard their past, but it doesn’t disappear. And for those that are fortunate, their baggage can even become a springboard for the growth they will experience.
A wise man once said that all that transpires during one’s youth was predestined by G-d to prepare for his destiny as a provider later on in life.
And yet, in reality, this is a hard concept for many to accept. Perhaps in hindsight, we gain the wisdom to learn from our past struggles, but as we actually experience those difficulties, it becomes easier to blame our teachers, parents, or anyone else for our pain, confusion, stress and frustration.
If we were to truly believe that all pain and struggles are stepping stones to better our character, that the tests of our youth were specifically designed by G-d to shape us into the unique individuals we are, how stress-free and relaxing our lives would be!
This message is transmitted through the division of portions in the Torah. The first volume, Genesis, concludes in middle of the story of the Jewish people’s descent to Egypt, at the point where they have just settled in the land.
The entire story of the birth of the Jewish nation, their slavery, hardships, faith, and ultimate freedom – all this is recounted in the second volume. Thus, the Book of Exodus, which celebrates the greatness of the Jewish people, begins with exile, the time of their servitude, degradation and pain.
The Torah is teaching us that greatness does not begin only once it has been attained; rather, it emerges when the journey towards it begins. Prestige is earned, not grabbed. And the birth of a leader is not the day of his inauguration, but the moment of his fiercest struggle.
Everyone has his or her destiny, a unique mission in this world. All that occurs to man is part of the Master Plan, the prologue to the story of his achievement, which turns him into the real Man of the Year.
He.
Me.
You.