With B.P
With B.P
2017
1
Mamtak le Shabbat – Va Etze
ממתק לשבת פרשת ויצא תשע״ט
Source: https://www.facebook.com/chabadthailand/posts/1452872678163932
Once upon a time there lived a Jew next door to the Lubavitcher Rebbe. Every time the Rebbe left his house and saw this neighbor, he
nodded his head to him in greeting. One day, this neighbor saw the postman passing by the Rebbe, and he waved his hand in greeting. This Jew then asked the Rebbe why the Rebbe nodded his head to him, but waved his hand to the postman, who was not a Jew at all? The Rebbe answered him: “I have never bowed my head to a non-Jew.”
In our week's parsha, Va Yetze, we read about Yaakov leaving Be'er Sheva and heading to Haran. On the way, he decided to lie down for the night to rest, took several stones and put them at his head, and made a fence around his head. Commentator Rashi: “Because he was afraid of wild animals,” and therefore he put a fence around his head. It seems a little strange that he was afraid of wild animals, but he only put a fence around his head. Can't animals get to the rest of his body?
In Hasidism, this is explained this way: by placing a fence around his head, Yaakov, as it were, determined his goals before setting out on the road to Haran. Yaakov knew that Haran was a very low place spiritually, life there would not be as quiet and peaceful as it was in his parents’ house. One of the stages of preparation for this trip was
By placing a fence around his head, he wanted to emphasize that even when he had to do cattle breeding and other work in the house of Laban the Aramean, his head would continue to remain clean and free to serve the Creator, and in this way he would be able to influence the rest of his body so that Dealing with the problems of this world was controlled by the head, which is entirely connected with the Almighty. Our task in this world as Jews is not to run away from everyday problems and worries, we are in “Haran” and there we must deal with everyday issues, but at the same time we must remember, as it is said: “...If you eat from your labors of your hands..." (Tehillim 128:2) - hands must deal with the material problems of this world, and the head must remain bright to serve the Creator. And when we manage not to forget about it, then
2
we can also be rewarded with the continuation of the phrase: “...then you are happy and good for you!” (Tehillim 128:2)
May it be the desire of the Almighty that we be able to grow and advance in materiality, but at the same time always remember that all this materiality is just a vessel for serving Him, and as a merit of such our service we can be rewarded with complete and final deliverance soon in our lives. days.
Amen 😊
2016
Source: https://www.facebook.com/chabadthailand/posts/1452872678163932
Once in the 40s in America, a young rabbi came to Rebbe Yosef Yitzchak, the previous Rebbe of Chabad, with a question. He told him, I am the rabbi of a synagogue and I don’t really understand how to behave - if I make comments to people, people will run away from the synagogue, and if I don’t, then perhaps I’m not fulfilling my duties and just getting paid for my position.
The Rebbe answered him, in Europe there was a sauna "Schwitz Bod", which was built in this way, there were several steps and the higher people climbed the steps, the hotter it was, when they climbed to the very top step, there stood a bath attendant with a broom and thrashed them ( ), and they shouted “more, more, give me more!!!” The Rebbe told him: “Try to think, if this bath attendant met the same man on the street and gave him a couple of blows with that broom, he would get angry with him, shout, and there, in the sauna, not only is he silent, moreover, he also asks ! Do you know what the reason is? Because in the sauna he does this after he has “raised” him, warmed him up and then the person is ready to receive.” The Rebbe told him: “you also behave the same way, every person to whom you want to make a remark, first give him a compliment, lift him up, warm him up and then he will agree (will be ready) to receive (hear) from you what you wanted to convey to him.” He will see your words as words coming from the heart, he will understand that they enter his heart and will do what you ask.
3
In our week's parsha, VaYetz (And went out), we read about the forefather
Jacob who arrives in Haran and meets a group of shepherds
who stopped near the well to rest and for some reason
It seemed to Yaakov that the break was too long and for no apparent reason he
He turns to him and asks them: 7. And he said: It’s still a great day, it’s not time to gather cattle! Water the sheep and go herd.
And the shepherds beautifully answer him and explain the reason for the downtime.
If you look at this conversation, it may seem a little strange
: some stranger comes to the locals and immediately has
comments and criticism, questions about what you are not working on. Any other
situation they should have sent him to hell for the best
case, but here we see that they not only did not send him, but
on the contrary, they accept his words. It turns out that Yaakov started the conversation
a magic word that changed the whole picture. Yaakov first
when he turns to them he says to them: 4. And Jacob said to them: My brothers, where are you from?
He addresses them as his brothers, and this immediately softens him, and then he asks: where are you from? Only after this does he voice his criticism of them. And this message is for each of us, each of us often has something to say to someone, if we really want to help a person and for him to improve, to improve something, to fix something, it should begin with a compliment, with “warming ", from raising the other and only then when we voice our criticism, the person will feel that our words come from the depths of the heart, and do not pursue any specific goal. Rabbeinu Tam says: “Words that come out of the heart enter the heart.”
May it be the desire of the Almighty that we be able to fulfill “Everyone helps his neighbor and says to his brother: “Be strong!” (Book of Yeshayahu,
41:6) - and do it in the right way, and as a credit to helping each other, the Almighty will help us and we will be rewarded with complete and speedy deliverance!
Amen
Shabbat Shalom! Translation: Uri Golberg :)