Made in EgyptInsider Information
Insider Information
The Talmud (Pesachim 56a) explains that Yaakov sought to reveal to his sons the end of the days (i.e., the time of the ultimate Redemption), but the Shechinah, the Divine Presence, withdrew from him.
What did Yaakov want to achieve by revealing this information to his children, and why did G-d not approve? One explanation is that Yaakov foresaw that the redemption from Egyptian bondage could potentially be the complete and ultimate Redemption, meaning, that the Jewish people would never be exiled again (see Zohar, vol. 3, p. 221a). He desired to reveal this to Bnei Yisrael, (who knew that the Egyptian exile would not be longer than 400 years, as stated in Bereishis 15:13-14,) in the hope that this would motivate them to maintain their righteousness and indeed merit the complete redemption at that time. Moreover, knowing that the ultimate redemption was potentially very near, they would increase their good deeds and bring about their compete redemption even sooner.
Nevertheless, G-d restrained Yaakov from revealing this information to his children. For the highest form of divine worship is when you serve G-d on your own initiative, and your drive to be righteous comes from within. This would be lost to some degree if Bnei Yisrael's motivation to increase their good deeds were based on prophetic information regarding the potential of their deeds to bring about the ultimate redemption by a given date. Their righteousness would not be regarded as "their own," as it had been motivated by outside sources of inspiration, and their merit would therefore not be complete.
The Shechinah therefore withdrew from Yaakov. Whereas Yaakov preferred to bring about the final redemption sooner, G-d preferred to give Bnei Yisrael the opportunity to truly merit the redemption on their own accord, and to thereby bring about the most perfect and complete redemption possible.
—Likkutei Sichos, vol. 25, pp. 228-232
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ביוזמת ולזכות הרה״ח הרה״ת ר' ישעי' זושא ווילהעלם שליט״א להצלחה רבה לו ולכל משפחתו בגו״ר
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12/22/15
Made in Egypt. Insider Information
12/21/15
Mother Rochel
A Mother's Sacrifice
Rachel's burial place would naturally have been in Me'aras Hamachpelah, alongside her husband. Instead, Yaakov buried her on the roadside near Beis-Lechem. Rashi tells us that before Yaakov passed away, he explained to Yosef that his mother's burial there would one day serve an important role in hastening her children's return from exile. When they would pass her grave as they were led into exile, Rachel would emerge from her grave and weep and beg G-d's mercy for them. As the verse states (Yirmiyahu 31:14), "A voice is heard on high, lamentation, bitter weeping, Rachel is weeping for her children." And G-d replies to her, "There is reward for your work… and the children shall return to their own border" (ibid 31:16). With this explanation, Yaakov consoled Yosef over his mother's seemingly second-rate burial place. For considering the benefit that her burial there would bring to her children, it was certain that Rachel too would have preferred to be buried there and not in Me'aras Hamachpelah.
The willingness to sacrifice for her children that Yaakov attributed to Rachel epitomizes the Jewish woman's unique quality and role as the akeres habayis, the mainstay of the family.
Whereas both men and women must equally serve G-d with every aspect of their lives, yet practically, only men are obligated in mitzvos that are time-sensitive, as well as the constant mitzvah to study Torah (see Talmud, Kiddushin 29a-b). Women are exempt from these time-oriented or constant obligations because a woman is constantly tending to the needs of her family and home. Thus, the Jewish woman "sacrifices" the satisfaction and spiritual experience that comes with the observance of those mitzvos, serving G-d instead by nurturing her family and caring for her home.
This explains why, among Yaakov's wives, specifically Rachel was buried on the roadside and not in the holy and special burial grounds of Me'aras Hamachpelah. For as Rashi states elsewhere (Bereishis 31:4), Rachel was the akeres habayis of Yaakov's household. Therefore, just as she personified the "woman's sacrifice" in her lifetime, in her passing too, her unique place of burial allowed her to implore G-d on her children's behalf and to guarantee their return home.
—Likkutei Sichos, vol. 30, pp. 239-240
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ביוזמת ולזכות הרה״ח הרה״ת ר' ישעי' זושא ווילהעלם שליט״א להצלחה רבה לו ולכל משפחתו בגו״ר
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12/16/15
No Pain, No Gain
No Pain, No Gain
No Pain, No Gain
As Yaakov and his family made their journey to Egypt, G-d appeared to Yaakov and told him: "Do not be afraid of going down to Egypt; for I will there make of you a great nation." What was Yaakov's concern that G-d was addressing? Why was it necessary for G-d to tell him "Do not be afraid"? Rashi explains: "Because he [Yaakov] was anguished that he was compelled to leave [the Land of Canaan] and go abroad."
A careful reading of Rashi's words indicates that Yaakov was not only afraid of what his future in Egypt held in store, but also anguished about the very fact that he was leaving the Land of Canaan. Nevertheless, we do not find that G-d addressed Yaakov's anguish. G-d tells him only not to be "afraid," because his family will emerge from Egypt even stronger than when they arrived; Yaakov's distress over leaving the Land of Canaan, however, was evidently still justified. Moreover, Rashi's words can be interpreted as hinting that the reason that Yaakov need not be afraid of descending to Egypt was, in fact, "because he was anguished that he was compelled to leave and go abroad," for his anguish would guarantee that his family would thrive there.
Yaakov's resultant mix of emotions, confidence in G-d's promise despite anguish over being exiled from the eternal Jewish homeland, are emblematic of the paradoxical feelings that the Jewish people must have toward galus, our state of exile and subjection to foreign rule and influence until the coming of Moshiach.
On the one hand, we must not be daunted or overwhelmed by the intensity of the galus, because knowing that we were exiled solely by G-d's will, we can be certain that G-d has endowed us with the strength necessary to overcome any challenge to His service that galus presents. On the other hand, we must never become comfortable with our state of exile. For it is precisely our distress and discomfort with our galus conditionthat gives us the strength to truly transcend its awful darkness, and not to be frightened by its challenges at all.
—Likkutei Sichos, vol. 30, pp. 234-235
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ביוזמת ולזכות הרה״ח הרה״ת ר' ישעי' זושא ווילהעלם שליט״א להצלחה רבה לו ולכל משפחתו בגו״ר
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