Tuesday, December 19, 2006

A thought on Parshas Miketz

"...mi'ketz shenosayim yamim...""...at the end of two years..." (41:1)

Yosef remained in the dungeon for two long years after having interpreted the dreams of his two fellow prisoners. A well known explanation given by Chazal is that this was a form of punishment for having made two requests of those men that they mention him to Pharaoh so that he be given a reprieve (40:14).

We must be very careful about "interpreting" the thoughts and behavior of our great and holy Avos. They were very close to HaShem. They understood the laws and structure with which the world is governed and with which people are judged. We can certainly appreciate Yosef's asking for help and urging the Egyptian prisoners to see to it that he be released from captivity. We can also understand at first glance how one must be most careful not to place trust in people, but in HaShem alone. However, it is naive to assume that Yosef haTzadik made an error and forgot this principle of utter trust. Moreover, we need to realize that some form of hishtadlus, display of effort, is customary when we turn with trust to HaShem for help. It is fair to say that most of us, given such captivity, would take advantage of the chance to call in a favor if it would mean getting in a good word on our own behalf. Clearly this event in Yosef's life is deeper than it seems.

Let us make our own hishtadlus and look at Rabbeinu Bachya for help. He explains that Yosef without a doubt had complete faith in HaShem. He trusted that HaShem would get him rescued when the time was right. When he was approached by the two dreamers in the cell, he took this as a sign that something miraculous was in store. He saw the odd event as a sign from Above that his rescue was in progress. He then turned to the men, and asked that they put in a good word for him, so that he be taken out of the dungeon. Rabbeinu Bachya understands that this last move, that of trying to plot out the exact method with which HaShem would bring about his rescue, was the Tzadik's error. He writes that while people who trust in HaShem might have made this very same hishtadlus effort, for a great tzadik it was an unnecessary concession, given the faith he was expected to display. One has bitachon in their bitachon, not bitachon in their hishtadlus. A Tzadik is very strong with his or her bitachon and frugal with the degree of hishtadlus they undertake. A great tzadik is expected to make sure that whatever effort he makes does not imply that HaShem's ways and means are limited in any manner.

It seems that a person of faith, of full faith, remembers that HaShem has no shortage of "methods" and ways with which to bring about events. When we have trust in HaShem, our faith is that He will do whatever is perfect. When we try to anticipate the method, we are projecting our own limited sense of what is needed and how it should happen. This is why when we pray to HaShem, our prayers are seldom specific or for specific things. We do not say, for example, "please G-d let it rain for ten minutes about 1.3 inches next Tuesday on the West side of the farm." We pray for rain in its season and we trust that HaShem knows exactly what we need, how much, when and where. Hence, when Yosef haTzadik impressed upon the men that he needed them to bring word to Pharaoh so that he be rescued from captivity, Chazal tell us that the consequence of those two requests were that Yosef remained isolated for two more years, where he renewed and strengthened his faith in full.

My father-in-law, Rabbi Dovid Rebibo shlit'a, has often said that whatever schemes we come up with as to how we want HaShem to respond to a crisis or problem, there is no point in putting a rush order in with our well thought out requests. Because, whenever HaShem choses to intervene, His response is always better timed and more creative than anything our imagination might have created.

Wishing you a good Shabbos and Chanuka someach. D Fox

Wednesday, December 13, 2006

"...v'yitnehu el bais ha'sohar..."
"...and they lowered him into the dungeon..." (39:20)

Did you ever wonder about that prayer we say on the New Moon and on festival week days, Ya'leh v'Yavo? We ask HaShem to listen and attend and respond to our remembrance and the remembrance of our forefathers. It is an assertive beseeching prayer where we almost demand that HaShem turn to us with mercy and restore our sacred places and return us to better times.

A beautiful prayer, without a doubt. Still, have you ever noticed the titular phrase, Ya'leh v'Yavo and pondered the meaning of those two words? They translate into "May our remembrance ascend (go up) and come and reach..." This seems like an unusual twist of a phrase. Where does it come from? Why was it chosen? What does it mean?

Rabbeinu Bachya illuminates the matter. The first exiled Jew was Yosef. He descended into captivity, carried down to Egypt. He began to improve his lot and status, only to be set up and persecuted, lowered into a dungeon where he stayed for a long while, until he was suddenly raised from that prison (41:14).

That early exile was a blueprint for the centuries of oppression which marked our nation's destiny. Captivity, diatribes, oppression, libel, plots, banishment...
the Jewish experience in exile across continents and oceans. Yosef was lowered into the pit. His ultimate triumph was when he was, finally, raised from that place and began his ascendancy.

Following that theme of exile symbolized as being lowered into a dungeon, and ascent as a metaphor for liberation from exile, our sages authored the Ya'leh v'Yavo prayer for HaShem to put an end to our exile, and they used Yosef's paradigmatic tale as a model. To be in exile is, spiritually, being lowered into a deep pit. Exile is dark. It is forbidding. It is uncomfortable. We are at our lowest when we are isolated far away from home. To get out of exile is to arise from the nadir of suffering and to reach the zenith of existence, which is to return to the Holy Land and restore our sacred service, living a sanctified life. This is why we utilize the image of going up and rising in yearning to get out of exile. Ya'leh v'Yavo means to arise and ascend.

With the onset of Chanukah, Shabbos and the fast approaching New Moon, may we and our prayers begin that ascent. May we rise on those occasions. Wishing you a good Shabbos. D Fox

Wednesday, December 06, 2006

A thought on Parshas Vayishlach

"...va'yet ohalo me'hala l'Migdal Eder..."
"...and he pitched his tent from out beyond Migdal Eder..." (35:21)

Yakov came from burying his wife Rachel and set up camp in the area past Migdal Eder, which translates as "The Tower of the Flock." Now, it may be noteworthy that nowhere else in Chumash is there mention of a place called The Tower of the Flock. It actually does surface in the Mishna (Shekalim 7:4) as a place not far from Jerusalem where animals designated for Temple service might stray.

Of what importance is it that Yakov's campsite is mentioned here? What might be the significance of its name?Rabbeinu Bachya addresses this. The event preceding this encampment is, as I noted, the death of Rachel. Prior to her death, her second son Binyamin was born. This is significant because he was the last of the Twelve Shevatim or Tribes of Israel. With his birth, the Patriarchal family was now complete and from that point onward, the Children of Yakov became the Twelve Tribes of Israel, a unified family-based nation.

This is why the campsite is mentioned here: from that point on, the travels of our nation in Israel were national events. Each encampment, however brief and temporary, marked the movement of a nation. We transitioned from a small group of young people into the Flock of Israel. The point nearby thus took on our name, and its tower became "The Tower of the Flock" of Israel. It was ours. We owned that spot. We elevated it.

Now, as to the significance of the name (the second question), Rabbeinu Bachya offers more: there is one other place where Migdal Eder shows up in the Bible. No, it is not in Chumash. But it does surface in TaNaCh.

"...V'ata Migdal Eder Ofel Bas Tzion..." (Micha 4:8)"...and you, Tower of the Flock, High Point of the daughter of Tzion,
they will come back to you, and the original kingdom will arrive..."

In times to come (see the Targum Yonasan on our verse), this Migdal Eder will serve as the gathering place for the remnant of Israel to meet as they greet the Moshiach. The spot out there where the blessings given Avraham, Yitzchak and Yakov culminated in the formation of the Twelve Tribes, the place where we unified into our nation, will once again serve as the starting point of our ultimate nationhood. Migdal Eder will draw us back. The entire Flock will seek out the chosen shepherd who will guide us back along the original path.

I wonder if the latent sacred power was what those kadshim animals sensed as they wandered, per the Mishna, all the way from Jerusalem to Migdal Eder.

And now you have, herd, the rest of the story. Good Shabbos. D Fox