Rabbi Benjamin Yudin Discusses Parshas Vayeitzei on JM in the AM (5786)

Good morning. Good shabas everybody. Tomorrow we have the privilege of reading paras vets. Whoa. What an incredibly important para pet is. Pay contains Yakob who listens to his parents who at the end of paras told us last week say for different reasons Yakov run to away run to your uncle Lavan for his father is telling him to go to get a wife because mommy and daddy didn't approve of the local women and mommy is saying run for your life cuz your brother Asov wants to kill you. There are so many different topics in paras. It begins with Yakov's incredible dream, the latter on the ground, the angels ascending and descending. Yakov coming to Kuran and the encounter with the shepherds who are quote lying down on the job and Yakov uh actually giving them a mush. What are you doing? You're being paid to work. Get up and work. And Yakov's feet in moving the boulder off the well. And we can go on and on how YaKob is deceived and he's given Leia instead of Rael, the birth of his children. All of these and many more incidents that occur in paras vets should tell us that the 147 verses found in this para should have many many paragraphs or separate parios with within or divisions. And yet from the first word till the last word there is not a single break in the action. If someone handed in such a paper to their English professor 147 verses without a single new paragraph and the professor says the content is most outstanding. But you have to lose some points because there is no paragraphs here too. 147ukim and no, no stum, no new paragraph. I don't have time to go into a re reason or reasons with you. I want to focus on something else, but I just want you to be aware of this and maybe you'll look and investigate and find out from your grandchild, from your local rabbi, from whomever. Why is it that this para is stuma which literally means closed meaning that there's not a single break. It's column after column after column after column in the safer. No new paragraph. Okay. What I want to basically show is something that I personally find exciting. I'm going to tell you first two very famous stories from the Talmud which occur to first the teacher the rebi and then to the Talmud. The Gomorrah in the Tannis 21A tells us about a great man, one of the Tanoyim, who was referred to as Num is Gamzu. And why was he called No, the man of Gamu? Because whenever something would happen to him, even what seemed to be on the surface, a misfortune, something bad, what was his response? Gamsu leova. This too was for the best. Talmet tells us that there was a heavy tax levied upon the Jewish people and they decided that they would try to plate the Roman Caesar by sending a gift to the Caesar. So everybody contributed their jewelry, this one, the earrings and the necklaces and bracelets etc. and it's filled to the top a chest with precious stones and pearls. And um who should we give it to? So they said, well, they didn't have an armored car to send it. They sent it with because they said he was used to having miracles in case he needed another one. So what happened? He takes the chest with him and he goes and he spends the night in and in. In the middle of the night, the inkeeper well was nosy. And what does he have in that chest? Oh my goodness. He sees all the jewelry and good stuff that's in the chest. He empties it out and puts dirt and um twigs and all kinds of stones in the chest on the marorrow. Nah goes to the court palace and they say, "Can we help you?" "Yes, I came to give a gift from the Jewish people." And sure enough, they open up the chest and the king takes one look at it and says, "Kill them all. Who's them all? Kill the Jewish people." Instead of placating this queser, the Caesar, they're aggravating him. The Jews are making fun of me. And so just at that moment, Nah, who seems to be in a pickle, what does he say? Gamula. This two is for the best. Gut hen. This two is for the best. What goes on? The Talmud explains that El Leo Anavvi was dressed like one of his guards and he says, "Emperor, maybe this is some of the dirt from their father Abraham that when Abraham defeated the four kings who defeated the five kings, how did he do that? He threw the dirt up in the air and it came down like swords and bows and arrows, etc. And the tomic continues to tell us that there was a nation that the Caesar was unable to conquer. They took some of this dirt and sure enough, unbelievable. So what did they do when they came back? They took the chest and they emptied it and they put it back with uh all kinds of jewels, gave it to Nakum with a blessing and said, "Thank the Jewish people." Unbelievable. Three words to okay this is the rebi rebi ishamu is the rebi of as we're taught in the goros sam om b we're told the following that rabika was once traveling and he came to a town and he asked could he please be put up for the for the night? And everybody said no to him. Nope, you can't. We have no room. Nope. And so what did he say? Whatever Hashem does is for the best. Okay. So he decided he's going to sleep in the field. Okay. Now what did he have with him? He had a rooster, a donkey, and a lamp. Okay. The wind came and blew out his lamp. A cat came and ate the rooster and a lion came and ate the donkey. And what did he say after each of these losses? Call the whatever Hashem does is latav it's for good. And what happened? He finds out in the morning that that night an army came captured the city and Rika told his colleagues, "Listen carefully. Didn't I tell you whatever Dashem does is good?" Because had the lamp been lit, the soldiers would have discovered him. Had the donkey braided or the rooster crowed again they would have heard the noise and come and captured him. The fact that all these mis apparent misfortunes. So what do we see that at the very time of the misfortune what does the rebi and the tal say that rather than saying the cup is half empty they said the cup is half full. Hashem is in charge. Kam zoo letova. Now I'd like you to see where do you have this in the para. So in case you haven't figured it out already the yose of y saland z in his safer says I'll show you. Take a look. Could you imagine that Rahiboker it was in the morning when he worked seven years already for Rael Emmanu and come on what happens in the morning he sees that it's Leia unbelievable so what would well any other person have done any other person would have probably punched his father-in-law in the nose and uh a couple of explo relative deletes. No, no, this is chapter 29 and this is pulk 25 and listen to what he says and it was in the morning and behold it was Leia. So he says to love one is this that you have done to me was it not for that I worked for you or why have you deceived me? Unbelievable. That's it. That's it. That's the best you can do. Aren't you angry? Aren't you upset? Of course, he is. But he doesn't show it. He's able to live by whatever God does is for the best. And indeed, the Yoseph says, where do we see this? Unbelievable. Come on. in the merit of Rael giving over the secret right to her sister so her sister would not be embarrassed on the night of her wedding to Yakov. So because she gave this over the medish tells us in the introduction to Rab that when was about to destroy the B mikdash and so Abra are awakened and they come and they plead before God and each one says do you know what I did? Do you know what I did? And it wasn't enough to sway Hashem's decision to destroy the temple. Rael comes forward and what does she say? Rael says, "Do you know what I did? I by giving over the sim and by giving over these signs to my sister, I invited my sor a co-wife into my house and I was able to live with it." "Hashem, what's your problem?" said Rael to Hashem. The Jewish people are worshiping idols. Come on, that's a nothing for for that. You are getting so upset and you want to destroy them. And Hashem said to wowish as a result of what you have done now. What does that mean? that Rael is gonna cry for the Jewish people when they are le being exiled from their land and is going to listen to um Rael's pleading and accept it and what's going to happen in the merit of her keeping quiet in the merit of her giving this in the merit Yakov not coming out and cursing or beating his father-in-law. As a result, the Jewish people are rewarded thousand years later by being promised that we are coming home. The song we sing when every soldier goes into the army and comes back. li now what's this very powerful idea the I'd like to suggest that when Leia has a fourth son she says hapam od hashem this time as Oscll translates okay this time I um give thanks to hashem where's this puss this is the last pussle Look in chapter 29. Chapter 29:35. She conceived again and bore a son and said, "This time I'll give thanks to Hashem." And she called his name Judah, Yehuda. Now, what's going on here? Why is she saying, "Thank you, Hashem." Now, something she hasn't said before. So the rabbis tell us it was known that Yakov the Nvi and his four wives certainly Rael and Leia that they were Nio. They knew that there would be 12 tribes. 12 tribes. Okay. Yakov has four wives. Each wife should have three sons. And there's your 12 tribes. Now when Leia had her fourth child, she says, "Hapam, this time I'll give thanks to Hashem." Meaning as Rashi tells us, the name of the rabbis, this time I have gotten more than I deserve, more than my share. And therefore, she's giving special thanks this time. I'd like to suggest that this time means no. It's not this time once, but every time. Every time I'm going to call my son's name, Yehuda, finish your lunch. Yehuda, do your homework. Yehuda, go to sleep. Every time I'm going to mention Yehuda's name, what I am doing is I am reminding myself that Hashem gave me more. Thanksgiving. Hashem gave me more than I deserve. Whoa. Now therefore suggests the excuse me therefore suggests the area was safe that where do and where does learn this principle of whatever Hashem does is for the best from and in the para from their response to their trouble. Whoa. Halam o hashem this time all the time I give thanks to God whenever the cup appears to be half empty no it's half full they always saw the bright side now we know the ER was composed by an Kessus Aola the Gmorra migill 17b tells us why there's an exact order of come on the Shmon Esray. The first blessing is Zavos. The second one is Gavuros and the Gomorrah goes through each of the 18 then now 19 was added different braos. Okay, now watch the Talmud in a vodor 8A teaches us that aside from the text that was composed by an Kessus Hagodola and with them were several prophets, the Gammorra says the Gmorrah gives us the license that we can add to Brahos in the Shmona. Esray, not just in a general way, but in a specific way as well, a specific petition. So that when we say Hashem, Hashem, please give us Rafu, heal us from our various ailments and sicknesses. Is this talking about whom? all of Clay Israel, the entire Jewish people. Somehow we might have some difficulty relating to all of CL Israel. That sounds very objective. However, what if a person knows somebody that is sick and needs? By citing their name, they are actually making the sha more personable. They have more cavana. They have more concentration because they know that particular person. And so it is that if I need parnosa, I can ask for mine. My neighbor down the block needs parnosa, I can ask for his. And the idea I'd like to suggest is the following. that everybody is very good at asking for things that we need collectively personally. However, there's one braha, namely modim, which is the braha of thanksgiving that we thank Hashem every day for the miracles, the wonders, the goodness that you do for us every day. Like the Gomorrah says in Nidot that the Balhan the one to whom the miracle has happened the Garra in Nidot 31a ailhano Hashem performs miracles for us that we don't we're not even aware of this. Whoa. I suggest the same way that at Rifu you add the name of somebody that needs a rafu and somebody that needs a sh and inu somebody that needs parasa. When you come to the bra of to the bra of thanksgiving, stop after and ask yourself, how is your toothache? Oh, excuse me. You don't have a toothache. Thank you, Hashem, that I don't have a toothache. And how is that, you know, ingrown toenail? And go on and on and on what you don't have. enumerate and say thank you Hashem for what I do have that every breath that I have and all the success that I have take a moment longer make your much more meaningful it's easy to say give me give me give me or even please give me somewhat harder and we have to work a little harder at doing this thank you Hashem And don't just say it in a more general way. Thank you for all of whatever you do. I am so appreciative. Shabbat. Shalom to all.