A thought on פרשת ויצא
"... va'yifga ba'makom va'yolen sham...""...and he arrived at a place and spent the night there..." (28:10)
Yakov alights in a strange place and rests there, only to discover that this spot is a gateway to kedusha. He has "chanced" upon a sacred place, destined to serve a hallowed role for his nation. HaShem speaks to him there, and Yakov pledges to return there with praise and offerings.
The Ralbag, whose insights address both the meaning of each passage and the lessons we are to take from them, sees in Yakov's encounter a profound message for each of us. He writes that the Torah relates this episode to educate us about how to deal with Divine hashgacha. To be precise, how must we respond "when good things happen to good people?" !
The Ralbag writes that it is not enough that we recognize those moments when HaShem appears to be guiding us towards good things and sheltering us from danger. We surely are meant to spot His grace and compassion, and to give praise and show awe. But there is more than that: the Torah is teaching us that when good things happen, we need to wonder about them. Why might HaShem be showing us kindness? What am I supposed to gain from this? How can I strengthen my faith and crystallize my belief in Him? What is the personal purpose of my being spared, or my being successful or my being healed at this time?
The good things do not happen by chance, and they do not happen without a plan in motion. Yakov arrived at that spot and discovered that it was not a random place at all. He was in awe of this, but he also went further. He used this hashgacha sign to fortify his belief in HaShem's Presence, and he used it as a prod to pledge a statement of faith, namely, that he was meant to consecrate this spot and to return to it with offerings and supplication.
There are many times when rough stresses befall people, yisurim, and people begin to ask, "why me?" People often get focused on "why is this happening", a mystery which we tend to ruminate over if we are the ones experiencing the plight, and obsessing when it is some other person who is in peril. We try to find the "cause" for those hardships and we try to blame them on something that we, or the other person, did. That type of thinking often leads nowhere and is generally not helpful (a topic I have written about in earlier parsha emails over the years.)
But the Ralbag is showing us something related but more useful and spiritually sound. When good things befall us, that is when we are meant to obsess and ponder, searching for the message beneath the bounty. "Why might this be happening to me?" "What am I meant to see within this which will guide me to be proactive and grow closer to HaShem?"
There are no random acts of kindness in HaShem's plan. We are meant to feel the joy, express the awe and then plot our path on the basis of the loving gift which is waiting to be opened and put to good use.
Good Shabbos. D Fox
Yakov alights in a strange place and rests there, only to discover that this spot is a gateway to kedusha. He has "chanced" upon a sacred place, destined to serve a hallowed role for his nation. HaShem speaks to him there, and Yakov pledges to return there with praise and offerings.
The Ralbag, whose insights address both the meaning of each passage and the lessons we are to take from them, sees in Yakov's encounter a profound message for each of us. He writes that the Torah relates this episode to educate us about how to deal with Divine hashgacha. To be precise, how must we respond "when good things happen to good people?" !
The Ralbag writes that it is not enough that we recognize those moments when HaShem appears to be guiding us towards good things and sheltering us from danger. We surely are meant to spot His grace and compassion, and to give praise and show awe. But there is more than that: the Torah is teaching us that when good things happen, we need to wonder about them. Why might HaShem be showing us kindness? What am I supposed to gain from this? How can I strengthen my faith and crystallize my belief in Him? What is the personal purpose of my being spared, or my being successful or my being healed at this time?
The good things do not happen by chance, and they do not happen without a plan in motion. Yakov arrived at that spot and discovered that it was not a random place at all. He was in awe of this, but he also went further. He used this hashgacha sign to fortify his belief in HaShem's Presence, and he used it as a prod to pledge a statement of faith, namely, that he was meant to consecrate this spot and to return to it with offerings and supplication.
There are many times when rough stresses befall people, yisurim, and people begin to ask, "why me?" People often get focused on "why is this happening", a mystery which we tend to ruminate over if we are the ones experiencing the plight, and obsessing when it is some other person who is in peril. We try to find the "cause" for those hardships and we try to blame them on something that we, or the other person, did. That type of thinking often leads nowhere and is generally not helpful (a topic I have written about in earlier parsha emails over the years.)
But the Ralbag is showing us something related but more useful and spiritually sound. When good things befall us, that is when we are meant to obsess and ponder, searching for the message beneath the bounty. "Why might this be happening to me?" "What am I meant to see within this which will guide me to be proactive and grow closer to HaShem?"
There are no random acts of kindness in HaShem's plan. We are meant to feel the joy, express the awe and then plot our path on the basis of the loving gift which is waiting to be opened and put to good use.
Good Shabbos. D Fox
posted by Rabbi Dr. Fox at 8:13 PM
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