Parshas Vayechi: A Mother's Encouragement- Rabbi Avraham Willig

at the beginning of practice yaakov is on his deathbed and he has a conversation with his son yosef and it seems like it's a private conversation and he recalls an incident that happened many years before he says mesa many years ago your mother yosef my wife my beloved wife rachel she died and i buried her at the side of the road right there in the middle of nowhere on a highway in the side of a highway buried on the side of the road i didn't even bring her to a city i certainly didn't bring her to the mars on and i know that for many years you've been hurt by this joseph had been very hurt and offended he had a question that he never asked his father why why didn't you respect mom why didn't you bury her where she should have been buried and i know that you're holding this inside joseph and i want to i want to explain to you i want to tell you i know you're hurt and upset and i want to tell you why i did it because i understood i had ruled that many many years from now there's going to the jewish people are going to go into gulas and when they will they are going to be passing by basler they're going to be sad and broken-hearted and lonely and worried and fearful and hashem told me bury rahel right there because on that lonely highway one day the jewish people are going to pass and when they do ima mama rachel is going to come out as rashi describes as the from from the matters she's going to come out and stand on her grave and pray for the jewish people seemingly the jewish people are are on their way out and rafael has come to say goodbye jacob had said this in order to appease joseph and how did it help him feel better perhaps because yosef himself had experienced being banished being sent away being lost being being thrown out of his home of his family he had experienced gullets for decades he had been alone by himself and at that point he was so sad and he was so troubled and he was so lonely and the worst arrives when he faces a specific challenge with his potiphar and he very much needs physique and he got that but the marriage tells us in this week's parasha something that most of us might not know the torah had the torah says in parishes yosef got energy from the great mighty strength of yaakov and who was that that was rahel many of us have heard that yosef had saw a picture of his father so to speak in the window and that gave him but rabbi ami in the matter says otherwise the great strength of yaakov was not the face of yakov it was the face of rachel rachel was yaakov's strength that means that when joseph was was in his most lonely most difficult moment he got his from his mother his mother appeared to him and her face gave him chris to get past his missionaries and gods perhaps this is why because of joseph's own experience and own traumas facing goddess and facing moments that's the reason why but he understood that his mother had been separated from them and buried in a lonely place it was for a reason it was for a reason to to save the jewish people and help them feel less lonely and come out and give them on their way out to gullahs that was inspiring to him and therefore so to speak he could understand and forgive his father but there's one more point and that is raquel is alone is alone she's not buried with her family she's not buried with her husband she's not very with her people she's on the side of a highway alone we see clearly that that is uncomfortable and that's that's not fun that's not pleasant what does rachel do with her loneliness her what she does is she looks to other jews who are who are suffering and having difficulty and she gets out of her grave and stands and gives them and inspires them and gives them on their way into gods when they're having trouble what we learned from this is if we ever god forbid have experienced a taste of loneliness what are we what is someone to do with loneliness the answer is take your loneliness and share share your understanding and your experience with other people in order to encourage them in order to let make help them feel less lonely that is the lesson that raquel teaches us