Podcasts about mefarshim

Living Emunah 2738 Parashat Pekudei: No Matter What In the beginning of parashat Pekudei, the Torah calls the Mishkan, the Mishkan of testimony. One of the things it testified to was Hashem's great love for us. The Mefarshim are bothered why the Torah repeats so much about the Mishkan in parashiyot Vayakhel and Pekudei, after they were already mentioned in Terumah Tetzaveh. Some explain the Jewish people were commanded to build a house for Hashem before they did the Chet Haegel. After they committed that grievous sin, they felt so distanced from Hashem and feared they would never be able to bring His presence down to dwell amongst them. However, after they made Teshuva, Hashem told Moshe to tell the Jewish people that He wants the exact same Mishkan built with every detail and that He was going to dwell with them. And that is why the details are repeated after the Chet Haegel. We see from here that no matter what a Jew does, Hashem always wants him back. We should never feel that because of our sins that Hashem doesn't want us. All we have to do is say that we are sorry and Hashem will be waiting with open arms, kavyachol, to bring us closer. Rabbi Snir Gueta told a story about a young woman named Shlomit. After years of waiting for a child, her parents were blessed with her birth. Tragically, a few years later, her mother fell ill and passed away, leaving her father to raise her alone. He tried his best to connect to his daughter and give her all the love and attention that he could. As she grew during her teenage years, she began drifting from the religious path that he was trying so hard to keep her on. As she got older, she drifted further until she was constantly arguing with her father about religion. She told him outright she was not interested in being religious. Her father kept telling her that he promised her mother that he would raise her to be a true Bat Yisrael, but she wouldn't change. One day she told her father she was leaving home and moving to India. Her father yelled at her, saying that she was being so insensitive, ignoring his request and leaving him all alone. She apologized for leaving him, but said she was going no matter what. Her father, in a moment of desperation, said to her, "If you leave, you are not welcome back. I will never forgive you for this." Her friends were waiting outside, and she left. She was in India for three years. At that time, one of her friends from Israel traveled there, and when she saw her, she hugged her, telling her how much she missed her. And then she gave her her condolences over the death of her father. Shlomit couldn't believe what she was hearing. She had no idea that her father passed away. She began crying uncontrollably, regretting the nonsense that she had been involved in over the past three years, completely abandoning her father and Hashem. She took the next flight back to Israel, and went straight to the cemetery, searching for her father's grave. When she finally found it, she sat there, crying, begging for him to forgive her. She said, "Please, Abba, I made the worst mistake. I will come back to Hashem now. All I want is for you to forgive me." She then went to the Kotel. She stood right by the mechitza between the men and women, and pulled out a piece of paper and wrote a note to Hashem, asking Him to please show her if her father forgave her for what she did. She put the note in the wall, and it immediately fell out. There was no room in any hole there for her note. She saw by the edge of the mechitza, in the men's section, an opening, and she put it there. When she put it down, another note fell out. She picked it up, and saw the name Shlomit bat Chana. She opened it, and began to read, and started to tremble. It said, "Borei olam, my daughter is in India, please bring her back to Teshuva. Her name is Shlomit Bat Chana. If I could talk to her right now, I would tell her that I forgive her for everything. All I want is for her to come back to You, Hashem." Shlomit broke out in tears, and thanked Hashem, and fully came back to Torah and Mitzvot. A human father is willing to take his daughter back, no matter what she does. All the more so, Hakadosh Baruch Hu wants every one of His children back, no matter what they have done. Hashem loves and wants every Jew close to Him. All we have to do is be sincere. Shabbat Shalom.

From a simple reading of Megilat Esther , it appears that Mordechai refusing to bow to Haman is what provoked Haman to issue the decree to wipe out the Jews. There must have been many Jews at the time who were angry that Mordechai had to be different, rather than just conforming like everyone else. That's what it seemed like, but Chazal tell us what really happened. When nine years before that, the Jews benefited from the seudah of Achashverosh, then it was decreed in Shamayim that they would be wiped out. The Mefarshim tell us, because Mordechai did not benefit from that seuda and because he did not bow down to Haman, he was the one who was able to be the catalyst to bring about the eventual salvation of the Jews. No matter what it might look like, when we do the right thing we always win. And when we do the wrong thing, we always lose. Hashem will not always make it so obvious. In fact, many times it will appear just the opposite, that it is the good people who lose. But it is only a test. Good always wins. The sefer Vaveh Ha'amudim brings a story that a man told about himself: Fifty years ago I worked in a butcher shop in Haifa. It was basically the only source of kosher meat in the neighborhood. I was living in a very small apartment at the time and I had to drive 30 minutes every morning to take my children to another city to the yeshiva that I wanted them to be in. The clientele in the butcher shop ranged from people just starting to keep kosher to religious people who were very particular about which meat they consumed. The sign on the door said "All our meat is glatt kosher" but there were times when the owner of the shop was not able to procure glatt meat and, instead, he took what was called "kosher meat" which was on a lower standard. The issue was, he did not inform the customers of this and there were people who would be mortified to find out they were not getting glatt meat. I couldn't watch them buying meat that I knew they would not want to consume, so when that kind of customer ordered his meat, I would tell him in a low voice, "The meat we have today is not for you, come back another day." I was petrified of getting caught by the owner, but I couldn't let the customers be misinformed like that. Eventually the owner caught me and fired me on the spot. During those days it was very difficult to find work. My children were hungry and I wasn't providing enough for them. But I kept my emunah strong, knowing that I did the right thing and Hashem would take care of me. One day, I met a man who came over to me who saw me looking so depressed and asked me what was wrong. I told him, "You want to know? I live in a small apartment. I have children sleeping on the floor. I have to drive 30 minutes each way to take my children to school. I don't have a job and my children are hungry. That's what's wrong." The man said, "I am a contractor. I just built a brand new building in a religious neighborhood right near your children's school. The apartments in that building are very spacious. There will be plenty of room for you to fit your children there. I have a deal for you. I will accept your current apartment now as a down payment for an apartment there and the balance you can pay me whenever you get the money." I couldn't believe this offer. I asked the man why he was being so generous. He said, "One day, about two weeks ago, my wife came back from the butcher empty handed, and I asked her where's the meat? She told me a worker there hinted to her that the meat wasn't up to her standards. I admired whoever that person was and I was worried about him losing his job. I just found out that it was you. I want to have the zechut of helping you for your heroic acts." The man concluded by saying, I thought I was sacrificing for Hashem, but now I see Hashem gave me much more than I ever did. I live in a beautiful apartment in a neighborhood that I want to be in. And baruch Hashem, I even found a job here with much better pay. When we do what is right, we always win. It might not always seem that way but it is for sure the truth. Purim Same'ach and Shabbat Shalom .

The sefer Vaveh Amudim brings a story that a man named Yaakov told him, which took place when he was younger. Yaakov said his father once asked him to take out the garbage and he replied, "Why are you asking me? I did it last time. There are many other capable people in this house who could do it." Yaakov's grandfather was in the room at the time and was very disturbed by Yaakov's response. He gathered Yaakov and his siblings together to teach them a life lesson. He opened a Chumash to this week's Parasha, Vayeshev, and he showed them the pasuk in which Yaakov Avinu told Yosef to go check up and see how his brothers were doing in Shechem. Yosef knew that his brothers had a certain hatred towards him, and it was extremely dangerous for him to go, yet he told his father הנני – I'm ready to go right now. Yosef could have given his father many excuses why he shouldn't listen, but he didn't. His father told him to do something and Yosef was going to listen. (As a side note, the Mefarshim do ask how Yosef went, knowing how dangerous it was, in light of the command ונשמרתם מאד לנפשותיכם – to protect our lives as best we can. The Chida writes in his sefer Rosh David in parsahat Toldot that although it is not forbidden for a child to respectfully refuse a parent's request if the request involves danger, however if the child wants to be strict and listen to his parents no matter what, he has the right to do so. He brings a proof how Yosef knew that, and one can see more about it in Sefer Chassidim , siman 341.) The grandfather then told them a personal story that happened to him when he was younger. He rolled up his sleeve and showed them the numbers that were tattooed on his arm by the Nazis, yimach shimam . He said, "My precious grandchildren, this number on my arm was determined for me to have by Hashem from the six days of Creation. Hashem wanted me to go through the seven levels of Gehenom in this world, for the best reasons, reasons which I cannot fathom. When the Nazis came to our town, they instructed all of the Jews to gather at the train station. We were only allowed to bring a few essentials with us. When we arrived there, they were separating the men from the women and children. I can still hear the bitter crying and screaming that was going on at that time. They put me, my brother and my mother on one train and my father on the other. Right before our train was getting ready to pull away, my mother saw that she had my father's tefillin with her. Immediately, she said to me, 'Berel, what is Daddy going to do without his tefillin ? He has to have them. Quickly, bring them to him on the other train.' It was very scary outside. The Nazis were strolling the area with vicious dogs. But I didn't think twice about it, my mother told me to go and so I went. I managed to get on to my father's train and, the moment I did, the train closed its doors and pulled away. My father and I were taken to a labor camp. I found out later, the other train was taken straight to the gas chambers. I am only alive today because I was ready to listen to my mother. "I want you to take this as a life lesson. When your parents ask you to do something, it's a golden opportunity. You will be fulfilling a mitzvat aseh from the Torah. Don't argue with them. Just say, הנני – I'm here and ready." Shabbat Shalom.

In this week's Parasha, Shelach, we read about the lack of emunah the Jewish people had in Hashem, which caused them to have to wander in the desert for 40 years before they could finally enter Eretz Yisrael. The Mefarshim tell us that the sins of the ז' עממין , the seven nations who occupied Israel at that time, did not yet reach the level that would warrant them to be expelled from the land. They still had 40 years left until that time would come. So it appears that the Jews would've had to wait 40 years either way to enter the land. Based on this, the Arugat Habosem asked why Hashem took them out of Mizraim at this specific time, knowing they wouldn't be able to enter the land anyway for 40 more years. The Rabbi answered, when it comes to reward and punishment, things can always change. There are numerous factors involved. Before Hashem revealed himself to the world with the ten makkot and kriyat Yam Suf, the sins of the seven nations were considered to be a smaller infraction because they weren't expected as much to follow Hashem's rules. Afterwards,however, He clearly showed them that He runs the world, and yet they still continued with their corrupt and immoral behavior. Then, their sins did reach the level that obligated them to be expelled from the land. However, everything in the world happens based on the way we act. If the Jewish people would've fully believed in Hashem's abilities to conquer the giants who occupied the land, they would've gone in immediately. But since they were afraid and they were not confident in Hashem's powers, the claim against the seven nations became smaller. After all, if the children of Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov were not believing in Hashem, how could the seven nations be expected to believe in him? It was our lack of emunah that let the seven nations off the hook and gave them back the 40 years that they had lost. Rabbi Manasseh Reizman brought this lesson closer to home. We are also waiting for the time when the nations of the world who persecute us will deserve to be destroyed. They see the sun rise and set every single day, and they believe that happens on its own. If we want that to be held against them, then we ourselves have to believe that Hashem is actively involved in every single act of nature that takes place every minute of the day. We say in the Tefillah, גולל אור מפני חושך וחושך מפני אור . Hashem brings on the night, and then the day, and then once again the night. Nothing happens on its own. If our emunah would be the way it's supposed to be, then they would be held accountable for their lack of emunah. We have opportunities to show our emunah every day of our lives. When things happen that threaten to disturb our peace of mind, we can either lose ourselves and feel hopeless, or we can say, "Hashem is behind this. I know it happened for my best, and I know going forward Hashem can help me get out of it in an instant." If the Jewish people would've known what was at stake when they were tested with the Meraglim, they would've easily passed that test. We must remember, each challenge we have is also a test, and there is so much we could accomplish when we have emunah during those challenges. If we can strengthen our emunah, we are not only going to enjoy our lives better, and not only going to get closer to Hashem, and not only be earning eternity, we will also be helping the entire klal Yisrael. This is the zechut we need to attain our final ge'ula which we are yearning so much for. It will come when we collectively raise our level of emunah, and that will happen when each person takes it upon himself to improve in his own personal life in emunah. Shabbat Shalom.

With the resha'im in Iran, firing over 300 missiles capable of causing complete annihilation, we are reminded of the words in the Haggadah, בכל דור ודור עומדים עלינו לכלותינו - in every generation they rise up against us to destroy us. And how fortunate we are to see the conclusion of that statement with our own eyes. והקב"ה מצילנו מידם - and Hashem saves us from their hands. Sometimes Hashem saves us with open miracles like in Yetziat Mitzrayim. And sometimes He saves us from behind the scenes like in the story of Purim. Giving us the capabilities to create machinery that can shoot down ballistic missiles and cruise missiles and giving us additional countries using their capabilities, is Hashem saving us from behind the scenes. But it's not really so hidden. To have that kind of threat with zero damage is HaKadosh Baruch Hu shooting down every missile out of His eternal love for us. In the Haggadah of Rabbi Eliezer Ashkenazi, he points out the fact that the Haggadah emphasizes Hashem saving us from our enemies, rather than Hashem wiping out our enemies. The reason, he says, is because if Hashem would just wipe out our enemies, we wouldn't necessarily see His love for us, because perhaps our enemies deserve destruction. But when Hashem comes just to protect us, that shows His complete love. It's only for us. Like when He told Avraham Avinu, אנכי מגן לך - I am your protector. And this is only what we see openly. We have no idea how much Hashem is protecting us from the billions of enemies that we have who are constantly plotting to harm us. We say לעושה נפלאות גדולות לבדו כי לעולם חסדו . We thank Hashem for the great wonders that He does for us that only He knows about. When Yitro came to visit us after Yetziat Mitzrayim , he told us more of the danger that we were in than we even knew, because he was in the government in Mitzrayim . If we would know about the miracles that Hashem is constantly doing for us, we wouldn't stop thanking Him. Regarding the Asher Yatzar , Rabbi Menashe Reizman pointed out, it says גלוי וידוע לפני כסא כבודיך - only Hashem knows how many miracles He's performing with our bodies constantly. If our bodies would be transparent and we would see the open nisim that are happening every second, we would be so appreciative. It says, הללו את ה' כל גוים - the nations of the world are going to give Hashem the greatest praises of all because only they know how much Hashem protects us. Only they see how many times their plots get foiled back in their faces. After Hashem showed us His love by protecting us, we hope now that He will avenge our enemies and bring the Geula . In the Haggadah we say, Dayenu , which many Mefarshim explain means, if Hashem would have just done one of the chasadim that He did for us during Yetziat Mitzrayim , it would have been enough of a reason to thank Him. How much more so that He did chesed after chesed after chesed . We say there, אילו הוציאנו ממצרים ולא עשה בהם שפטים - even if Hashem would have just taken us out of Mitzrayim without inflicting punishments upon the Egyptians, it would have been more than enough to thank Him. Hashem could have made Pharaoh not be able to sleep one night like Achashverosh and asked for His book of Chronicles to be read. And it would have said that Yosef HaTzaddik saved his country and he never paid him back. And then, with that, he could have released the Jewish people. But instead, Hashem allowed us to see revenge against the people that tortured us. And that was an additional level of love that Hashem did not have to do. We need to appreciate so much that we have Hashem on our side. And now, more than ever, we need to storm the Shamayim with our tefilot and good deeds to merit the Geula Shelema b'karov . Amen.

One of the lessons that we are supposed to take away from Purim is that there are no coincidences in life. Mordechai did not just happen to overhear Bigtan and Teresh plotting to kill the king. Achashverosh did not just happen to have trouble sleeping hours before Haman was going to come to his house and tell him to hang Mordechai. Achashverosh did not just happen to ask for his Book of Chronicles to be read, and it did not just happen to come to the page about where Mordechai saved his life. Every moment of life is drenched with hashgachat Hashem. Our job is to see through what appears to be natural events and attribute them to Hashem. When the Jews left Mitzrayim , all the nations were trembling in fear from them. Amalek, however, went and attacked. The pasuk says "אשר קרך בדרך" – they happened upon you on the road. The Mefarshim tell us Amalek did not want to believe that it was Hashem who took them out of Mitzrayim. They did not want the world to fear the Jews. They attributed Yetziat Mitzrayim to natural occurrences, to happenstance, and they acted upon their belief and attacked the Jewish People. The Torah tells us, our battle with Amalek is מדור דור –in every generation. We will only be able to overcome Amalek physically after we overcome them spiritually. We must strengthen our emunah in Hashem's involvement in the world and in our individual lives. This is the time of year when there is extra Siyata d'Shamaya in the air for us to strengthen ourselves with. A woman emailed a story which happened to her mother, who we'll call Mrs. Greenstein, a few years ago. Mrs. Greenstein is a nurse who works in a hospital in Israel. One day on her way out of the hospital, she received a phone call from a young woman. This young woman had a severely handicapped baby. The baby was a few months old and taking care of him was very complex. The young mother needed to go back to work and was looking for a babysitter who would be able to care for her baby throughout the daytime hours. Mrs. Greenstein explained to the woman all the medical details of what this would entail. When she hung up the phone, her first thoughts were, how would she ever find someone qualified enough to take care of that baby? Only someone with experience and extensive knowledge of how to care for such a child would be suited for that job. Someone like that is most probably hired already in a different job. Mrs. Greenstein then looked at the time and realized she had just missed the bus that she usually takes home. She got on the next bus, hoping to find a quiet place in the back to rest after a long day. She was about to fall asleep when a lady that she knew sat down right next to her. Mrs. Greenstein knew this lady worked in a home for handicapped children. They hadn't seen each other for a while so they spoke for a bit, catching up on each other's lives. The lady mentioned that she recently stopped working and was looking for a new job. Mrs. Greenstein immediately connected her to that young mother and, a few days later, this woman started her new job babysitting for that handicapped infant. Amalek would say this was nothing but a few coincidental events. But we say, look at this amazing hashgacha ! That babysitter was probably the only qualified person in their city capable of doing that job. Hashem arranged for that young mother to think of calling Mrs. Greenstein at that time. Then He put Mrs. Greenstein on the second bus instead of the first. Then He put the babysitter in the seat right next to her to connect her to that new job. These stories are happening countless times a day. It is up to us to recognize Hashem's involvement in each one of them and attribute all of life's happenings to Him.

The explanations of the Mefarshim on a few details of the story. Source Sheet: https://res.cloudinary.com/ouinternal/image/upload/outorah pdf/l3ykak2c7oqsx4trpdi4.pdf --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/yechezkel-hartman/support

In this week's parasha Terumah , we read about the construction of the Mishkan and its Kelim . One of the Kelim was the Shulhan , which had twelve loaves of bread constantly upon it. Mefarshim tell us, the Shulhan represented parnasa . The sefer L'Binyamin Amar quoted a Ramban saying, since the time of the world's creation, Hashem made it that His blessings need something to take hold upon. They don't come from nothing. Therefore, the Torah says, there should be lechem on the Shulchan tamid, constantly, so that there will always be a place for Hashem's blessings in parnasa to come down upon. One opinion in the Gemara is that the bread was made in the shape of a sefina rokedet , a rocking boat. Rabbi Menashe Reizman brought down a homiletical peshat . A sefina rokedet literally means a dancing boat. The boat represents earning a livelihood, the occupation that Zevulun had. Just like Yissachar had to be dancing with joy when he went out to the Bet Midrash to learn, so too Zevulun had to dance when he went out to the workplace to do his job. When a person has to go to work to earn a livelihood, he should not feel that he is stuck doing mundane things. The Baal HaTanya wrote a letter to his students, describing for them the spiritual elevation they could get by going to work. He wrote that a Jew fulfills a mitzvat aseh from the Torah called Lo Yigrah , by earning money and supporting his wife. The Gemara says, someone who supports his children is considered to be doing tzedakah at all times. When a person opens his store in the morning, he is supposed to say a l'shem yichud , just like he does before putting on his tefillin . He should say, I am now fulfilling a mitzvat aseh , שארה כסותה ועונתה לא יגרע - Thank you Hashem for giving me a wife and children. I want to support them according to your commandment. I want to be able to pay for their tuition, as it says, ולמדתם אותם את בניכם . We have a responsibility to make sure our children get a Torah education. Rabbi Akiva Eger wrote in a letter, since it's a mitzvah of Hashem to work to support a wife and children, there is no heter to do it begrudgingly with a sour face. Rather, a person should do his job with joy, knowing that it is also connecting him to Hashem. The Chovot HaLevavot writes in the Shaar Habitachon , that Hashem made each person in a way that will enable him to do a certain job to earn parnasa . A person should choose a job that fits his bill, something he will enjoy. And if someone has a job that doesn't fit him, and he doesn't enjoy it, he should pick something else. A person has to know he is not a slave to his job. Hashem doesn't need a person to work to give him money. A person's hishtadlut in earning parnasa is part of his avodat Hashem. Hashem wants him to pass tests there, and follow the halachot of Choshen Mishpat . He should choose a job that will allow him to pray with a minyan , to set aside time to learn Torah morning and night, and to have time for his family. He should not be afraid to be the one to decide what his schedule should be. Of course, while working, a person has to give his full effort, but he gets to choose what job he takes, and the hours that it entails. When we choose something that fits us, we should go to work every day happy, knowing that we are doing a mitzvah, and will be rewarded for it, no matter how much money we earn that day. This should give us great joy, and b'ezrat Hashem should make us receptacles to constantly receive Hashem's blessings. Shabbat Shalom.

Hashem puts people in the positions they need to be in to accomplish what they need to accomplish in this world. The situations are set up, tailor-made for each person, and then the decisions of how to proceed are up to them. It may not be obvious to the person how much is riding on the decision he's about to make, but in many instances it's Hashem giving him a chance to correct an error from the past. Hashem wants us to be successful with our missions in this world, and that is why He gives us great opportunities to perform. The Ramban in Vayigash writes that Yosef never told Yaakov what his brothers did to him. Since the brothers did not tell Yaakov, Yosef was not going to tell him. It would be considered lashon hara . How far did Yosef go? The Mefarshim tell us for the seventeen years that Yaakov lived in Mitzrayim , Yosef made sure never to be alone with him, so that Yaakov would never ask him what happened to him during that time when he went away. This meant that Yosef was not able to learn one-on-one with Yaakov, even during those years where the Zohar writes Yaakov was zocheh to Heavenly revelations in Torah on the level of Moshe Rabbenu. It was so difficult for Yosef not to be as close to his father as he wanted, and it was all because of his worry of having to reveal what his brothers did. Rabbi Menasheh Reizman quoted from Rabbi Ben Zion Abba Shaul, the grandson of Chacham Ben Tzion, that Yosef was making a tremendous tikkun here. The Torah says about him, when he was seventeen, ויבא יוסף את דיבתם רעה אל אביהם , Yosef would tell his father about the “bad” things that his brothers were doing. Even though Yosef had good reasons for it, it was still called דיבתם רעה . And now, for the final seventeen years of Yaakov's life, Yosef bent over backwards not to say דיבתם רעה , to fix whatever blemish he may have had from what took place in his earlier years. This was his opportunity to make tikkun , and he wasn't going to miss it. Furthermore, we find that although Yosef HaTzaddik completely forgave his brothers for selling him, telling them they had nothing to do with it, it was all m'et Hashem. Yet, their sin needed kapara throughout the generations with the עשרה הרוגי מלכות -the ten martyred Sages. The question is, why did they need kapara if they were completely forgiven? Rabbi Reizman quoted from the Shelah and the Alsheich, that it was not only Yosef that the sale affected. The main one who was hurt was Yaakov Avinu. He was in deep mourning for such a long period of time, and the Shevatim never asked him for forgiveness. They had opportunities to explain to Yaakov what they did, and then apologize and ask for mechilah . But because they never did, they never got forgiven, and that sin needed atonement. Part of the reason we're still in exile today is to get kapara for that avon . And, specifically the galut of Edom, which is Esav, had the right to subjugate us for so long because Esav was the one who excelled in Kibud Av v'Em . Binyamin, who was not involved in the sale, merits to have the Bet HaMikdash built in his portion. The pasuk says, ובין כתפיו שכן - the shoulders that were there for his father to lean upon in his old age should have the Bet HaMikdash built upon them. Rabbi Reizman quoted one of the Gedolim from the last generation saying, “We find today, baruch Hashem, people living very long lives, and some in their old age need a lot of care. Some don't even recognize their children anymore. Perhaps Hashem is giving the final generations the ability to gain merits in Kibud Av v'Em that Esav never got. To take care of an aged parent, day and night, with no reciprocation. It's a very big test, because it's so easy to send the parent to a home and visit once a week. But to take that responsibility to care for the parent, all while suffering the pain of them not recognizing the child, is an enormous zechut . Every situation in life presents another opportunity. Hashem wants us to be successful and therefore He puts us in the positions we need to be in to succeed.

When Yosef revealed himself to his brothers, the pasuk says, ולא יכול יוסף להתאפק - Yosef was no longer able to hold himself back. What else was he waiting for? How long would he have kept hiding his identity if he could have held himself back? Furthermore, the Rishonim ask why Yosef didn't send a message to his father that he was alive during the nine years that he had already been viceroy. Moreover, during their interactions, Yosef gave his brothers numerous hints that he was Yosef. It should have been completely obvious to them. How could they not have recognized him? Rabbi Menashe Reizman listed at least twelve indications that they should have picked up on. Additionally, the Midrash says they were actually searching for Yosef in Mitzrayim . They were great Chachamim . And here he was staring them in the face with so many signs. How could they not have recognized him? Rabbi Reizman explained from the Mefarshim , the brothers were sure that Yosef was the impure one that came from Yaakov. Just like Avraham had Yishmael and Yitzhak had Esav, they thought Yaakov also had a child of similar status. They saw Yosef saying lashon hara about them to their father. It says in Chazal , lashon hara is as bad as the three cardinal sins. They looked into the future and saw Michah and Yarovam ben Nevat coming from him. They truly felt he was deserving of the death penalty. Their ruling was not based on an impulse. They sat down together as a Bet Din and decided this is who he was. They looked at his dreams as his own fantasies of ruling over them. As we know, they completely misjudged him. He was truly righteous and his dreams truly were prophetic. The brothers never actually regretted what they did. The only remorse they had was that they should have been more merciful to him because he was their brother, not because they were wrong. One of the conditions of making teshuva is regret. When someone sins out of desire and he knows he made a mistake, it's easy to regret it. But if someone sins based on what he felt was a very logical and reasonable calculation, that's much harder to regret. Rabbi Reizman explained, Yosef was trying to get his brothers to recognize him because if they recognized him, that would mean they were willing to make teshuva and admit they were wrong. But if with all the signs he was giving them, they would still refuse to recognize him, it would mean they were still sure they were right, making every excuse not to recognize him. If they would have admitted he's a ruler after they had already bowed to him, that would be admitting that his dreams were prophetic and he was truly righteous. When a person knows that with one recognition, his entire philosophy will be disproven, he would rather come up with excuses than recognize. The Rabbi told the story of a principal of a Beit Yaakov who once threw a student out of school for not acting the way she was supposed to. Many years later, this girl made teshuva and built a beautiful bayit ne'eman b'Yisrael . One day she saw her old principal in the street, the one who threw her out of school, and she told her who she was. This principal refused to believe her, saying she must be that girl's sister. The reason she couldn't believe her is because that would have meant she was completely wrong for throwing her out of school. She had taken the risk of taking this beautiful neshama and throwing it into the street, completely giving up on her. It is extremely hard to admit guilt on a calculated decision. With this, everything makes sense. Yosef wanted his brothers to make teshuva by regretting their decision, and that would have happened if they recognized him. He was doing everything in his power to help them recognize him. If he would have just told them he was Yosef, that would not be called teshuva . Similarly, while Hashem is still hidden from us, and we feel bad for our past misdeeds and tell Him that going forward we are going to recognize Him, that's teshuva . But after Hashem reveals Himself to us, when He tells us the words, אני ה ' , it will no longer be possible for us to make teshuva . Yosef tried being harsh with his brothers, he tried being soft with them, but nothing was working. He was no longer able to continue with the hints, because he couldn't be more explicit than he was already, and therefore he just revealed himself. All that time he was willing to delay, even telling his father about him, just so he could give his brothers the opportunity to make teshuva . It was a tragedy that he had to reveal himself, because it meant the brothers didn't make teshuva , which ended up causing the Asara Harugei Malchut . We are currently in a very long galut , in which Hashem still didn't yet reveal Himself to us. He gave us times of hardship, times of blessing, hoping His children will all recognize that He is their Father. We're so close to the Geulah , and Hashem is calling louder than ever. First with COVID, then Lag b'Omer, then the Miami building collapse, and now the Simchat Torah massacre. Each time we can make an excuse of the cause, and not admit that we are guilty, and need teshuva . We could say COVID came from a China laboratory, Lag b'Omer, because they closed the fence and didn't allow the people to leave. The building collapsed, because the structure wasn't sound, and October 7 th , we're still trying to figure out. Before Hashem openly reveals Himself to us, we need to recognize Him on our own, and we do that by fully accepting His will upon us, with no excuses. We have to stop hating people, and not tell everybody else to do it. We have to step up with our own avodah , and stop thinking of ways for everyone else to improve. If everyone will recognize Ani Hashem on their own, before Hashem reveals Himself, then we will attain full teshuva , and enjoy the awesome days of Geulah ahead, b'ezrat Hashem b'karov .

Chazal tell us, because Yosef Hatzaddik did too much hishtadlut with the Sar HaMashkim to get out of jail, Hashem made him stay there for two extra years. Why exactly what Yosef did was too much hishtadlut is a discussion amongst the Mefarshim, but one thing is clear, too much hishtadlut has consequences. The standard way of thinking is that if a person did too much hishtadlut , it just means he wasted his time and would have gotten what he worked for without all that extra hishtadlut . Here, however, Chazal are teaching us too much hishtadlut actually brings about negative consequences. A person may put in too much hishtadlut , for example, in his business and then he sees good money being earned from it. What he may not realize is perhaps he was supposed to earn much more, but because of his extra hishtadlut , it decreased. The same applies in all areas. A person may have to wait longer to get something, specifically because he's putting in too much hishtadlut to get it. One of our main purposes in this world is to recognize that Hashem runs it, and He doesn't need our help. Hishtadlut is just meant to camouflage His involvement and make it look normal to get what He wants to give us. Hashem's plan for Yosef was so much greater than what Yosef was trying to get with his hishtadlut . If the Sar HaMashkim would have mentioned the name of Yosef to Pharaoh like Yosef asked him to and Pharaoh would have let him out of jail, he would have become a commoner on the streets of Mitzrayim like everybody else. Hashem was preparing to elevate Yosef to become the viceroy, without him having to do anything. Hashem made it that the royal steward served the king a cup of wine with a fly in it. Then He sent him to the same jail that Yosef was in. This is despite the fact that Yosef was considered a lowly Ivri in the Egyptians' eyes and this man was a worker in the king's palace. Then Hashem made the Sar HaMashkim have a dream in that jail, that Yosef interpreted. What was supposed to happen next is that he gets out of jail and then Pharaoh has his disturbing dreams that no one is able to interpret. And then the Sar HaMashkim remembers Yosef on his own and tells Pharaoh about him. And then Yosef interprets Pharaoh's dream and becomes viceroy. We don't need to worry about Hashem helping us. His salvations are always better than anything we could ever think of. Somebody once asked Rav Elchanan Wasserman, zatzal , what's considered too much hishtalut ? He answered that he couldn't give them an exact definition because it depends on a lot of factors and what area of life we're dealing with. However, he gave the person a rule to live by. His words were, “There is no such thing as grabbing in this world,” which means a person can never take more than what's coming to him. Hishtadlut is just to reveal what Hashem has already decreed for the person to get. Therefore, a person has to think before he continues doing his hishtadlut , did I do enough to cover up an open miracle from Hashem? If I did and it makes sense to get what I'm seeking with the amount of effort I put in, then I better stop because I don't want to ruin it. Effort beyond that point makes it appear that we believe it's really our efforts that are producing the results and that is a negative that has consequences. If hishtadlut involves doing something wrong, it's definitely considered under the category of too much. If a buyer wants to go to a non-kosher restaurant, that's a negative hishtadlut and could only hurt. And even if a sale results from that meeting, we'll never know how much more we could have gotten if we did a correct hishtadlut . The key to success is doing the hishtadlut that Hashem wants us to do. That is one that will never compromise our spiritual lives, whether it's going to minyan , learning Torah, or devoting time to our families. Hashem doesn't need our help. Our hishtadlut is just to cover up His miracles.

Avraham Avinu's tent was open on all four sides because he wanted to spare his guests the trouble of going around to find the door. Avraham is called the pillar of chesed that the world stands upon, yet all of his chesed is merely hinted to in four words in the Torah "ויטע אשל בבאר שבע". The one example of chesed that the Torah does elaborate upon in this week's parasha Vayera is about the chesed that Avraham did with angels, who don't even need chesed to be done with them. Why was this the one example chosen? Mefarshim tell us, what impresses Hashem, kavayachol , the most are the mitzvot that we do when it is difficult. In this instance, Avraham was sick. It was the hottest day in history, and he still did his chesed with the same fervor and enthusiasm. This act of chesed is what made all of his other acts of chesed so much more valuable. Rabbi Zilberstein explained this concept with a story told to him from a trustworthy man. This man told the Rabbi about a dream he had. In his dream he saw himself being judged by the Heavenly court and it wasn't going well for him. Then, a defending angel said, "He deserves to be treated better. He made sure that for his entire life he never ate something not-kosher." Then, a prosecuting angel said, "Yeah, but almost all the stores in his neighborhood sold kosher food." Then a defending angel said, "That's true, but one time when he was away and kosher food was unavailable, he sacrificed not to put anything in his mouth that was even questionable. He searched and searched until he found something kosher. And since that is how much he valued the mitzvah, the kashrut that he kept his whole life has the same value." This defendant's words were accepted in Heaven. That means our deeds done under trying circumstances uplift all the other ones we do when it is easy. People may complain when they run into obstacles, especially when they are trying to fulfill mitzvot. They might even think that Hashem is pushing them away, chas v'shalom . But in actuality, Hashem is giving them an opportunity to sacrifice for the mitzvah and thereby increase the reward that they will gain every other time that they do that mitzvah. For example, if a person is in an area that he is not familiar with and he looks up information about finding a minyan there, and it says there is going to be a minyan the next morning at 6:45 am in a place that is 30 minutes from where he is staying. He wakes up the next morning and makes sure to get there early, only to find that the doors are locked and there is no one in sight. After waiting 15 minutes, it becomes apparent there will not be a minyan in that shul. He then begins looking to see if there are any other minyanim in the area. He finds there is an 8:00 minyan 45 minutes from where he is. He looks at his watch and sees if he leaves then he can still make it. But then he thinks, I already tried. I woke up early, I drove for a half an hour to get here and it didn't work. Maybe I'm just going to pray by myself. Then he strengthens himself and says, No, I'm going to sacrifice for minyan. And he drives for 45 minutes and arrives just in time to a full crowd and prays there with minyan. That experience would upgrade the value of him praying in minyan all of the other times in his life by hundredfold. That would be the one example that Hashem would write about him if He wanted to describe this man's praying with minyan. It was well worth it for him to drive two long drives and to wake up early, to have that minyan experience. It will define his adherence to praying with minyan. The same applies with every mitzvah that we do. We don't enjoy experiencing the difficulties involved in accomplishing them, but we have to know when those difficulties come up, they are our keys to success. Hashem sends them with love and admiration. He knows we could rise to the challenge and in them lies all our glory. Shabbat Shalom

The Midrash at the beginning of this week's parasha , Lech Lecha , gives a mashal to explain the first time Avraham heard the voice of Hashem. The mashal is of a person traveling on the road and he sees a building on fire. Nobody is doing anything to put the fire out and it is in jeopardy of spreading. The person says to himself, “It looks like there is no one in charge of this building.” Then, all of a sudden, the building owner calls to the person from one of the windows and says, “I am in charge of this building.” The Mefarshim explain, Avraham figured out that Hashem created the world, but as he began to ponder different things that were happening in the world, it appeared as if there was no one in charge of it. And then Hashem called out to him and said, “I am running the world.” Hashem did not tell Avraham why things were happening the way they were, he just told him not to worry because everything was under complete control. “Yes, the building is burning, but I'm doing it. There is a reason for it and that is all you need to know.” Avraham was called the Rosh Hama'aminim – the first one to have emunah in Hashem. Emunah does not mean that we have the answers to difficult questions. It means we believe Hashem is in charge and we trust that He is doing what is absolutely best. Today, we are living in a time when the ‘building is burning'. We have witnessed the most horrific tragedies. There are thousands of people in mourning, thousands of people with anxiety, not knowing what is going to happen with their loved ones, and millions of people on edge, not knowing what the future holds. We do not have the capabilities to understand what Hashem is doing, but we must know, the building owner is in charge. He has it all covered. He is in complete control. In every tragedy, Hashem peers from a crack in the window and shows us that He is here. We have heard dozens of stories of different people how they were saved, many of them in miraculous ways. We can never know why one person got saved and the other one didn't. We don't know why this one was taken hostage and that one wasn't. We don't know why certain hostages have been released and others haven't. We can't explain anything. Even when it comes to people who violate Shabbat, our Rabbis have taught us, they are considered tinok shenishba . People born into families who haven't been religious for generations, they don't violate Shabbat because they want to go against Hashem; they simply don't know better. Rabbi Menashe Reisman said, if we would be able to see the history of each person how he ended up in the life that he is in, we would most probably see so much good that he has done and would completely understand why he doesn't know a thing about Torah and mitzvot. Rav Chaim Vital writes, there are deep secrets in Shamayim as to why someone would be born into a completely irreligious family, secrets far too complex for us to understand. Every soul has a different purpose for coming into the world and Hashem puts every neshama in the exact family and place that it needs to be in to do its job. It's not our job to explain the ways of Hashem, it's our job to trust that He is controlling everything and doing exactly what is necessary for each person's benefit. This is the message that Hashem gave to Avraham the first time He spoke to him and this is the message that every Jew must take to heart. Everything is under control. As for us, we have to do our job of following Torah and mitzvot to the best of our ability and everything else we leave to Hashem. Shabbat Shalom.

Three explanations by the Mefarshim why Gadol Me'tzuve V'Oseh. Source Sheet: https://res.cloudinary.com/ouinternal/image/upload/outorah pdf/k1igfsvnufytdszyoctb.pdf --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/yechezkel-hartman/support

The pasuk says in the beginning of the second parashah this week קדושים תהיו , and Rashi writes, most of the body of the Torah is dependent on this commandment. The Mefarshim discuss, what is it about this mitzvah that is so intrinsic to the fulfillment of the Torah? The Imreh Yitzchak explains, the mitzvot were given to elevate and sanctify us, like we say קדשינו במצוותיך. But in order to attain kedusha from the mitzvot, we need to imbue the body of every mitzvah with a neshama and that neshama is the kavana that we put into them. In the words of the Ben Ish Hai in parashat Beha'alotecha , the entire tikun that is supposed to be brought out by each mitzvah cannot take place without us putting the kavanot into it, because a mitzvah without kavana is like a body without a soul. And this, explains the Imreh Yitzhak is one explanation of the words קדושים תהיו – we are supposed to become sanctified through the mitzvot and that requires us to think before we do each one of them, that we are doing them to fulfill the will of Hashem, and thereby connect ourselves to Him. And that is why this is so intrinsic to the fulfillment of the entire Torah. Rabbi Dessler writes, the future rewards of delighting in the radiance of the Shechina will come about through an extremely strong bond of connection to Hashem. Therefore, if one's mitzvot here are done with the desire to connect to Hashem, that is what is going to establish that great level of connection and enable Hashem, kavayachol , to reward the person with a connection that is many thousands of times greater than that. A little thought can elevate a person's Olam Hazeh and Olam Haba to unimaginable levels. Someone once asked Rav Shlomo Zalman Aurbach about the Mishnah which says, רצה הקב"ה לזכות את ישראל לפיכך הרבה להם תורה ומצוות – Hashem wanted to give merits to the Jewish People so He gave them an abundance of Torah and mitzvot. The man's question was, isn't more Torah and mitzvot seemingly more of a burden? The Rabbi answered, “There are so many mitzvot which involve actions that people are doing anyway, such as putting on their shoes in the morning. Hashem, in His infinite kindness, wanted to give us merits by turning all of those actions into mitzvot by attaching commandments to them, telling us to put on our shoes a certain way, right before left, just to give up more reward.” Similarly, there are so many other actions that we do anyway. If we simply have in mind that we are performing a mitzvah when doing them, we will be rewarded for them. I received a sefer called Ka'asher Tziva Hashem , translated into English, written by Rabbi Daniel Garfinkel. The Rabbi opens our eyes, in this sefer , to countless mitzvot that we could fulfill just by having the correct thought process while we are doing them, namely because Hashem commanded us. For example, a young man hears the cries of his newborn baby in the middle of the night. He sees his wife is in a deep sleep and doesn't hear the baby. His initial reaction would be to call to his wife and wake her up. But suddenly, he realizes, putting the baby back to sleep would be a mitzvah from the Torah of gemilut chasadim to both his wife and the baby. He then gets up happily and thinks, לשם מצוות חסד כאשר ציווני ה' , and he goes to put the baby back to sleep, acquiring eternity. Washing one's face in the morning fulfills the mitzvah of kiddush Hashem, brushing one's teeth fulfills the mitzvah of ונשמרתם מאד לנפשותיכם , buying something from a fellow Jew fulfills the mitzvah of וכי תמכרו... , paying a worker fulfills the mitzvah of ביומו תתן שכרו . However, in order to get the proper credit and bring about the kedusha and connection that we want from these actions, we need to have the kavana that we are doing them to fulfill the will of Hashem. Someone who goes about his day having these intentions is living with Hashem on a constant basis. He remembers Hashem in everything he does and thereby establishes a very strong bond with Him. We are in this world to elevate ourselves and become kedoshim and connect ourselves with Hashem for all eternity. The more we can train ourselves to have the proper kavanot , the greater our connection will be. Shabbat Shalom.

When the time came for Hashem to take the Jewish People out of Mitzrayim , it was their tefila that started the process, but they needed additional merits to be worthy of that great salvation. So Hashem gave them two mitzvot to perform – Korban Pesach and brit milah . Mefarshim point out, both of those mitzvot required tremendous self-sacrifice. The animal they needed to bring was the Egyptian deity and the pain involved in an adult man doing brit milah was very great. It was specifically because those mitzvot were so difficult as to why they were chosen. When we put forth self-sacrifice in the performance of a mitzvah, Hashem appreciates it so much. And very often, He will show us in different ways how our acts of mesirut nefesh were appreciated. Recently, a woman was traveling with her large family to Israel for Pesach. When they got to the ticketing counter, it was discovered that her name was entered wrongly into the system and because it did not match her passport, they would not give her a ticket. They tried to reason with the ticketing agent, showing clearly that it was all one family traveling together and the name was just an innocent mistake, but the ticketing agent would not help them. They had about twenty minutes to figure out what to do or the woman would miss the flight. They started calling different people including their travel agent who said he would do his best to try to change the name in the system. With about four minutes to go, a seat opened up and they were asked if they wanted to pay $2000 for a one-way ticket. The woman said that was way too much money and they continued hoping to get that name changed. At the last second, the agent saw the name was changed in the system and he issued the woman a ticket and they made the flight. When a different family member heard this story, he reminded that woman that just a few nights before their mother was in the hospital, helping one of her children in labor. She was finally ready to go home after 1:00 in the morning but didn't want to take a taxi. She put out a message to her children asking if someone would come pick her up. This woman, who was the one flying to Israel, was the one who answered the call. She got up from her sleep and drove all the way to the hospital and back at that time of night. It was pointed out that the time to drive to the hospital and back was the same as traveling from the airport and back. The relative said to this woman, “You went out of your way to drive to and from the hospital to do the mitzvah of kibbud av v'em with mesirut nefesh and it saved you from having to drive back and forth from the airport to take a different flight separate from your family.” Rabbi Goel Elkarif told a story which began with a man who we'll call Reuven who was getting ready to travel to his home in Bnei Brak at 12:15 am from a wedding that he attended in Netivot. As this man pulled out, an avreich asked him if he was headed to Bnei Brak by any chance. When he replied yes, the avreich was elated and asked him for a ride. While in the car, Reuven asked his passenger why he was traveling to Bnei Brak at such a late hour. The avreich said he had missed the last Arbit in his neighborhood and did not want to pray without a minyan . He had just asked Hashem to please get him a ride to Bnei Brak where he knew there would be a minyan and right after he finished praying, he noticed this car pulling out and asked for a ride. Reuven was amazed with this man's mesirut nefesh , to travel over an hour each way to pray Arbit with a minyan . He then asked his passenger how he planned on getting home. The avreich said, “I hope someone there will take me back but if not, I'll learn in Ponovitch Yeshiva until Shacharit and after minyan I'll get the bus home.” Reuven was curious to find out the ending of this story, so he left his number with the avreich and asked him to call him the next day. What was the conclusion? The avreich entered a shul called Itskovitz at 1:30 in the morning and he was the tenth man. When they finished praying, he heard someone outside shout to his friend, who was still in the shul, “Yossi, stop chatting! We have to get back to Netivot, you are wasting time.” The avreich couldn't believe his ears. He went to ask the driver for a ride and he happily agreed. This avreich put forth a great deal of mesirut nefesh to pray with a minyan and Hashem arranged for him, at that late hour, to get a ride to Bnei Brak and then back from Bnei Brak to where he lived. Our mesirut nefesh is so precious to Hashem and many times it is the catalyst that we need to receive the yeshuot we have been hoping for.

The way it appears to us, the more toil and sacrifice a person puts into Torah and mitzvot the less enjoyable his life will be. The more money a person gives away to charity, the less he'll have for himself. The reason it has to look that way is only to keep our free will balance. But in truth, it's exactly the opposite. The more toil a person puts into Torah and mitzvot, the more enjoyable his life will be. The more charity a person gives away, the more it will increase his assets. The pasuk says in this week's parasha , Naso , “ואיש את קדושיו לו יהיה. איש אשר יתן "לכהן לו יהיה And the Mefarshim explain the pasuk to be saying, the only possessions which are truly ours, the ones which will benefit us, are the holy acts which we perform- קדושיו לו יהיה ; and the only money which we truly have is אשר יתן לכהן - the money we give to tzedaka. Of course, every mitzvah we do and every dollar we give is credited to our spiritual accounts and will benefit us for all eternity, but even in this world, they provide so many side benefits as well. Whatever is hard to give up of ourselves becomes so much more valuable and will benefit us even more. I read a story about a woman who lived to the ripe old age of 110. She had hundreds of grandchildren and great-grandchildren and she was active until her final day. A grandchild said at her funeral that he went to visit her one time when she was 100 and, while he was there, he asked her for her secret to long life. She replied, “Grandpa and I lived through very difficult years, especially during World War I. We were poor and Grandpa would do whatever he could to come home every night with bread for his large family. We would cut up the bread into 8 pieces and give each person one, that's what we lived on – one piece of bread per day. One night Grandpa came home and he saw me looking very sickly. He gave me his piece of bread to eat, but I refused to accept it. It was then that he realized, I had been eating crumbs every single day and giving the rest of my bread to our children. He cried, feeling bad that he didn't realize that before and do more to bring home additional food. Then he gave me a blessing. He said, ‘In the merit of you taking away from yourself for your children, may Hashem grant you a very long life of health, with plenty to eat for all of your days, with many grandchildren and great-grandchildren to share it with.' And that's exactly what happened; his blessing was fulfilled.” This woman gave up from herself, which seemed like an act which would take away life from her, but in actuality, that is what added years to her life. The sefer Emunah Shelemah told a story that was told over by the man who was involved – Avigdor Aaronson from Bet Shemesh. Avigdor said it was on a Friday morning, he didn't have any money to buy food for Shabbat, and his credit card was not usable. He knew he was going to be getting a lot of money on Sunday, so he wanted to ask someone for a loan until then. He prayed in a shteibel where nobody really knew anyone's name. He needed a lot of money and wasn't sure who he could ask there. He saw a man who prayed there every day, he did not look like a man of means, but he was always smiling, so he felt comfortable asking him. After praying, Avigdor approached him and asked if he could borrow money, just until Sunday. The man thought about it for a minute, then pulled out his wallet and took out a lot of cash and gave it to Avigdor. Avigdor was so thankful. He wrote up a document saying, “Avigdor Aaronson will pay you X amount of dollars on Sunday,” and he signed it. Avigdor did not even know this man's name. The man took the note and put it in his pouch. Avigdor went and bought everything he needed and had a wonderful Shabbat. On Sunday, he came to shul with the money and that man had the biggest smile, he said, “Thank you so much for paying me back, baruch Hashem, baruch Hashem!” Avigdor didn't know why he was so appreciative. Then the man said, that little pouch of his is where he keeps all of his cash that he uses for the upcoming month and the only thing he has in it is cash. After he took out the money to give him that Friday, he left the pouch on the bus. He was in such pain, he tried to track it down but he couldn't. Then he remembered, half of the money he lent out and if he would be paid back, he'd get it back. “When you came in now and you paid me, I was so happy. I thought I was giving up my money on Friday, and now, I see I was actually getting it back.” Avigdor received a phone call later that day from someone who found the pouch and they said, “Did you lose a pouch?” He said, “What do you mean?” He said, “I found in this pouch with money and an IOU document signed by Avigdor Aaronson and I looked you up.” The next day, Avigdor was so excited to give that man back the rest of his money as well. Whenever we give up from ourselves, that's what we're giving to ourselves. As well, any effort we put in to Torah and mitzvot will only come back to help us even more. Shabbat Shalom.

This Shabbat, parshat Nitzavim , is the last Shabbat of the year 5781. It is also the final week of the seven haftarot of consolation that we have been reading. The Midrash says regarding these haftarot , which began with a message to the Jewish People after the destruction of the Beit HaMikdash , that Hashem told the prophets to tell us, נחמו נחמו עמי – that we should be consoled, but the Jewish People replied,ותאמר ציון עזבני ה' – they said that they felt like Hashem had abandoned them. And so the Nevi'im went back to Hashem and said עניה סוערה לא נוחמה – that the Jewish People were not consoled, until Hashem Himself said אנכי אנכי הוא מנחמכם – that He alone would come and console His People. The Jewish People were told the most beautiful words of nechama , קומי אורי כי בא אורך – arise and shine for your light has arrived – כי הנה החושך יכסה ארץ וערפל לאומים – even though there may be darkness covering the earth and dense clouds covering the nations of the world,ועלייך יזרח ה' – Hashem will shine upon you – וכבודו עלייך יראה. After hearing the words of consolation from Hashem, the Jewish People responded with the words in this week's haftarah, שוש אשיש בה' תגל נפשי באלוקי – they felt such a joy, a rejoicing with Hashem, feeling uplifted with Hashem. When Hashem consoles, it's a complete consolation. This past year has been a very hard year for our People at large. There are many people who are in need of consolation. The day is going to come very soon, b'ezrat Hashem, when we will see the fulfillment of the pasuk ובלע המוות לנצח ומחה ה' אלוקים דמעה מעל כל פנים – death will cease to exist and Hashem will wipe away the tears from every face. The Yerushalmi explains this to mean that Hashem is going to come to every single individual personally in all of His splendor and glory and He is going to console and comfort them for every hardship and tragedy that they suffered through. He will explain to each person why He needed to do what He did and everyone will see how it was all done with only love and compassion. The pasuk says כאיש אשר אמו תנחמנו כן אנכי מנחם אתכם – Hashem is going to console us like a mother consoling her son. Mefarshim explain, you can't compare being consoled by someone who knows what you're experiencing than from someone who doesn't. The consolation from Hashem will be like a widow consoling her son for the loss of his father. She knows what the son is feeling because she is feeling it as well. Her words will be impactful because the child knows his mother truly understands his pain and his feelings. The last pasuk of this week's haftarah says בכל צרתם לו צר – Hashem feels every ache and pain that we, His precious children, feel. He understands what we went through in the past and what we are going through currently and His consolation will truly console. Although we might not be able to see the good now in the pain we endure in this world, we can still trust Hashem that it's for the best and console ourselves with those thoughts. Tell Hashem we trust Him and accept His will, it's a very precious avodah that will help us immensely and give us great merits. We hope to see the ultimate nechama with the coming of Mashiach and the Geula Shelemah. Amen . Shabbat Shalom.

One of the lessons that we are supposed to take away from Purim is that there are no coincidences in life. Mordechai did not just happen to overhear Bigtan and Teresh plotting to kill the king. Achashverosh did not just happen to have trouble sleeping hours before Haman was going to come to his house and tell him to hang Mordechai. Achashverosh did not just happen to ask for his Book of Chronicles to be read, and it did not just happen to come to the page about where Mordechai saved his life. Every moment of life is drenched with hashgachat Hashem. Our job is to see through what appears to be natural events and attribute them to Hashem. When the Jews left Mitzrayim , all the nations were trembling in fear from them. Amalek, however, went and attacked. The pasuk says "אשר קרך בדרך" – they happened upon you on the road. The Mefarshim tell us Amalek did not want to believe that it was Hashem who took them out of Mitzrayim. They did not want the world to fear the Jews. They attributed Yetziat Mitzrayim to natural occurrences, to happenstance, and they acted upon their belief and attacked the Jewish People. The Torah tells us, our battle with Amalek is מדור דור –in every generation. We will only be able to overcome Amalek physically after we overcome them spiritually. We must strengthen our emunah in Hashem’s involvement in the world and in our individual lives. This is the time of year when there is extra Siyata d’Shamaya in the air for us to strengthen ourselves with. A woman emailed a story which happened to her mother, who we’ll call Mrs. Greenstein, a few years ago. Mrs. Greenstein is a nurse who works in a hospital in Israel. One day on her way out of the hospital, she received a phone call from a young woman. This young woman had a severely handicapped baby. The baby was a few months old and taking care of him was very complex. The young mother needed to go back to work and was looking for a babysitter who would be able to care for her baby throughout the daytime hours. Mrs. Greenstein explained to the woman all the medical details of what this would entail. When she hung up the phone, her first thoughts were, how would she ever find someone qualified enough to take care of that baby? Only someone with experience and extensive knowledge of how to care for such a child would be suited for that job. Someone like that is most probably hired already in a different job. Mrs. Greenstein then looked at the time and realized she had just missed the bus that she usually takes home. She got on the next bus, hoping to find a quiet place in the back to rest after a long day. She was about to fall asleep when a lady that she knew sat down right next to her. Mrs. Greenstein knew this lady worked in a home for handicapped children. They hadn’t seen each other for a while so they spoke for a bit, catching up on each other's lives. The lady mentioned that she recently stopped working and was looking for a new job. Mrs. Greenstein immediately connected her to that young mother and, a few days later, this woman started her new job babysitting for that handicapped infant. Amalek would say this was nothing but a few coincidental events. But we say, look at this amazing hashgacha ! That babysitter was probably the only qualified person in their city capable of doing that job. Hashem arranged for that young mother to think of calling Mrs. Greenstein at that time. Then He put Mrs. Greenstein on the second bus instead of the first. Then He put the babysitter in the seat right next to her to connect her to that new job. These stories are happening countless times a day. It is up to us to recognize Hashem’s involvement in each one of them and attribute all of life’s happenings to Him.

From a simple reading of Megilat Esther , it appears that Mordechai refusing to bow to Haman is what provoked Haman to issue the decree to wipe out the Jews. There must have been many Jews at the time who were angry that Mordechai had to be different, rather than just conforming like everyone else. That’s what it seemed like, but Chazal tell us what really happened. When nine years before that, the Jews benefited from the seudah of Achashverosh, then it was decreed in Shamayim that they would be wiped out. The Mefarshim tell us, because Mordechai did not benefit from that seuda and because he did not bow down to Haman, he was the one who was able to be the catalyst to bring about the eventual salvation of the Jews. No matter what it might look like, when we do the right thing we always win. And when we do the wrong thing, we always lose. Hashem will not always make it so obvious. In fact, many times it will appear just the opposite, that it is the good people who lose. But it is only a test. Good always wins. The sefer Vaveh Ha'amudim brings a story that a man told about himself: Fifty years ago I worked in a butcher shop in Haifa. It was basically the only source of kosher meat in the neighborhood. I was living in a very small apartment at the time and I had to drive 30 minutes every morning to take my children to another city to the yeshiva that I wanted them to be in. The clientele in the butcher shop ranged from people just starting to keep kosher to religious people who were very particular about which meat they consumed. The sign on the door said “All our meat is glatt kosher” but there were times when the owner of the shop was not able to procure glatt meat and, instead, he took what was called “kosher meat” which was on a lower standard. The issue was, he did not inform the customers of this and there were people who would be mortified to find out they were not getting glatt meat. I couldn’t watch them buying meat that I knew they would not want to consume, so when that kind of customer ordered his meat, I would tell him in a low voice, “The meat we have today is not for you, come back another day.” I was petrified of getting caught by the owner, but I couldn’t let the customers be misinformed like that. Eventually the owner caught me and fired me on the spot. During those days it was very difficult to find work. My children were hungry and I wasn’t providing enough for them. But I kept my emunah strong, knowing that I did the right thing and Hashem would take care of me. One day, I met a man who came over to me who saw me looking so depressed and asked me what was wrong. I told him, “You want to know? I live in a small apartment. I have children sleeping on the floor. I have to drive 30 minutes each way to take my children to school. I don’t have a job and my children are hungry. That’s what’s wrong.” The man said, “I am a contractor. I just built a brand new building in a religious neighborhood right near your children’s school. The apartments in that building are very spacious. There will be plenty of room for you to fit your children there. I have a deal for you. I will accept your current apartment now as a down payment for an apartment there and the balance you can pay me whenever you get the money.” I couldn’t believe this offer. I asked the man why he was being so generous. He said, “One day, about two weeks ago, my wife came back from the butcher empty handed, and I asked her where’s the meat? She told me a worker there hinted to her that the meat wasn’t up to her standards. I admired whoever that person was and I was worried about him losing his job. I just found out that it was you. I want to have the zechut of helping you for your heroic acts.” The man concluded by saying, I thought I was sacrificing for Hashem, but now I see Hashem gave me much more than I ever did. I live in a beautiful apartment in a neighborhood that I want to be in. And baruch Hashem, I even found a job here with much better pay. When we do what is right, we always win. It might not always seem that way but it is for sure the truth. Purim Same’ach and Shabbat Shalom .

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The pasuk in Yirmiya says, “ועת צרה היא ליעקב וממנה יוושע– there are times when the Jewish People are in trouble but Hashem saves us from that trouble. Mefarshim explain, that pasuk is also saying וממנה יוושע – from the trouble itself, Hashem brings the salvation. During the time of Purim, Haman threatened to wipe out Klal Yisrael and Hashem used Haman himself to bring the salvation. By him killing Vashti, he paved the way for Esther to come into power. Whenever we experience a troubling time, we are supposed to accept it with love, realizing Hashem is doing it for our best. As an added chizuk, we could also think, perhaps through this trouble, Hashem is planning my salvation. I read a story in the Be’er HaParashah which recently took place. A man in Israel who was planning to make a wedding for his son called a certain hall to reserve the date. The manager penciled him in and accepted a down payment for the reservation. About five days later, the manager called this man back saying he didn’t realize, but he had already given away the hall to somebody else beforehand and forgot to write it down. This man was extremely upset. He was ready to take the manager to Bet Din to fight for his rights for the hall, as he had accepted his down payment. Then he decided to be a bigger person and give in and look elsewhere. There wasn’t too much time left until the wedding and all the places in his price range were booked. Just a few days before the wedding, a certain Rosh Yeshiva, who was also a relative of this man, heard about what happened and he graciously gave the hall in his yeshiva to them for free. The wedding was beautiful, baruch Hashem. The man found out afterwards, the original hall that he booked was raided by the police that night and, unfortunately, the wedding that was going on there was abruptly stopped. What this man thought was his problem turned out to be his salvation. Hashem brings salvations in ways we would least expect it. The knowledge that we have Hashem and can always be helped, no matter what situation we are in, should be very comforting to us. A woman told me about her brother in Israel. A few weeks ago, his health was deteriorating from Corona. His doctor advised him to stay home and be cared for by the organizations that were making house calls. The hospitals were so overbooked, he was worried he would not get the attention he needed. His oxygen level was very low, and he needed to constantly be hooked up to the oxygen tank he had in his house. As well, his daughter was due to get married six day from that point, but all anyone could think about was his health. His doctor told him to take a medication called Ivermectin, which was not available in Israel. His sister in New York was able to obtain it, and she desperately wanted to get it to him as quickly as possible. This took place two Wednesdays ago. From the moment she got the medicine, she frantically tried calling people, looking, perhaps someone was going to Israel who could bring it with him. After many phone calls she finally found someone who was going on Thursday night, but that meant her brother would not get the medication until after Shabbat because the person would be arriving too close to Shabbat to get it to him. Time was of the essence. That same evening, this woman was hosting a beshow, which is an in-house meeting between a boy and a girl for marriage purposes. First the parents meet and then the children meet. While the girl’s parent were on their way there, they got into a small accident and called saying they had to wait for the police to arrive because they were hit by a rented vehicle, and it could take hours. The woman said, “Don’t worry, I’ll come pick up your daughter and bring her to my house.” Afterwards, her husband went to the scene of the accident to make sure everything was okay. He found out that the driver of the other vehicle was going back to Israel that same evening. He gave him the medication and, by Thursday evening, the patient started taking it. Baruch Hashem, his condition improved steadily over the next five days. By the time his daughter got married on Tuesday, he was up and about, able to attend the wedding and march his daughter down the aisle. Baruch Hashem, he’s doing great now. And, baruch Hashem, that couple who had the beshow also recently got engaged. Yeshuot can come from anywhere. Very often, what we think is the problem is, in fact, Hashem creating the salvation.

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Although rewards for mitzvot are going to be paid in the Next World, the Mishna teaches us that for some mitzvot , the dividends are paid in this world as well. One of those mitzvot is gemilut chasadim – doing kindness for others. Most of the time we are not able to see the connection between Hashem paying us those dividends and the acts of kindness we did, but there are times when Hashem does make it very clear. A man who has a business called Brooklyn Party Rentals told me, he was asked by his shul to rent them 30 chairs indefinitely. He decided to do an act of chesed and bring them 30 black folding chairs free of charge for however long they needed. About two weeks after that, this man received a phone call from Target asking him if they could rent his chairs. “Sure,” he said, “what do you need?” The man replied, “We need 30 black folding chairs, and we need them for four months.” The man pointed out to me, to rent the chair for one month already costs more than buying the chair. It was so clear that this was Hashem showing him how He appreciated his act of kindness by giving him this order for the exact same chair and the exact same amount of chairs and, who knows, it could be for the exact same amount of time that the shul is going to need them. There is another statement from Chazal in Masechet Pe’ah in the Tosefta there which says that the zechut of every mitzvah pays dividends in this world. There are different Mefarshim on how to reconcile this with the other mishna which implies that dividends are only paid for certain mitzvot. The Yafeh Mareh answers, the second statement of Chazal is referring to the zechut that comes about from the effort invested in performing the mitzvot . Hashem pays dividends here for all our efforts. The rewards for the actual mitzvot are paid in the Next World but the efforts are rewarded here. Efforts don’t only refer to physical efforts. All of the mental efforts are also rewarded. Holding back from falling to the yetzer hara requires a lot of inner strength, and every bit of it will be rewarded by Hashem. A young rabbi from Israel whose name is Snir Guetta told a story that a man related to him. This man contacted the rabbi regarding a class he heard from him. He said he is not an observant Jew and a few months before someone told him to listen to a class that the rabbi gave. It was all about Hashem rewarding us for our efforts in doing His will. The man told the rabbi it made a very big impression on him and, although he did not change, he thought about that class all the time. One Friday after work at about 1:00, he was headed somewhere that he knew was forbidden to go to, but he was accustomed to go there. This time, he began thinking of the rabbi’s class how Hashem would reward him for his efforts in doing His will. He decided to turn the car around and go home instead. It took a lot of strength, but he was able to do it. He came home and told his wife about what he just did and said now he’s waiting for Hashem to reward him. Of course, we know Hashem rewards in hidden ways at the times He deems are right, but this man did not know that. And therefore, he expected an immediate reward. A couple of hours later there was a knock at the door. It was strange for them to get a visitor on a Friday afternoon. The man opened the door and saw it was his in-laws. They would come occasionally to ask them for help, and so he assumed that is why they were there. After sitting and talking for a while, the man’s father-in-law asked to speak to him in private. They went into a room. His father-in-law then took out a stack of shekalim that was valued at about $3000 and put it on the table. He then said his mother passed away a year and a half ago and they divided up the inheritance that she left them at that time. He then looked directly into his son-in-law’s eyes and said, “I know what a connection you had with my mother, and I know it would make her very happy to know that you got some of the money that she left. So I’m giving this to you.” The man couldn’t believe it. He told the rabbi later, “I don’t understand. I did not have a connection to his mother and that money was given to him over a year ago. Why all of a sudden did he decide to come to my house and give it to me now? Especially since he himself needs it more than me. This was clearly Hashem rewarding me for doing His will that day, just like you said rabbi.” The man became a ba’al teshuva from that episode. Hashem sees everything we do. He will pay us all for our efforts at the time He deems right. The main reward for our mitzvot is paid in the Next World, while in this world we are able to collect dividends.

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