Parshat Vayigash: Yaakov Avinu Recites the Shema: 3 Inspiring Lessons - Rabbi Aaron Goldscheider

good morning everyone BTO and uh hope everyone is well great that you are here this morning and uh an honor to be with you and to share words of kuk to learn together this morning and as we do on a regular basis we'll begin with a capital toim with and we can join in together and with those words of we have our soldiers in mind we have those that are in captivity those that have been injured and and uh we are praying for them we're thinking of them as we are learning this morning we dedicate the learning to uh to Hashem please God safeguarding our soldiers bringing a release to the captives and Rua to those that are in need this morning what I like to look at is um is a topic that relates to katma to the reading of the shma something that we read in these par the parash and and that is the shma that is recited by Yakov and um generally when we think about the shma we think about the AL of the shma in terms of Our obligation and the torah's obligation to recite Thea every single day and yet we have in kazal we have uh in arabin literature the idea that the shma and reciting the shma goes back even earlier than than the giving of the Torah itself and that we have a tradition of Yakov and Yakov and the children of Yakov of reciting the shma so that is what I'd like to focus on and to find inspiration in that this morning and uh the episode is a beautiful episode dramatic episode from the paraa that we read this past chabas and that is Yakov the reunion with his son Yosef and ysf the PK says hugs his father and he cries on the shoulder of his father and there's a famous um push statement that's made by Rashi at that moment that y was reading the shma that he was saying the shma at that moment there are many different ways of interpreting that kma why yakob was reciting the shma at that moment and I'd like to offer three different interpretations which really come from three different B medish they come from three different worlds of learning the uh the world of learning of the Lish world theic world and the Bali muser and we'll see how they all bring their world view and their their particular approach to understanding the katma the reading of the shma of Yakov at that moment as uh as he has the reunion with his son Yosef so let's begin with a um really a fascinating interpretation that's found in the uh the world of brisk the world of the the salivic family in which they interpret this reading of the and according to R Sal and this is found in the is in the hos from parash and he quotes R Sal and uh R says the following he says why was he reading the at that moment he says because at that moment there was an obligation and the very first time that he had the obligation that day of reciting the shma and therefore even though he was seeing his son he put aside those emotions and that uh the experience of that reunion and he' locked into the obligation itself of reading the shma let me read to you a few words just a line or two from the the way that it's presented a Mitzvah to go to the land of Egypt he was fulfilling a commandment of God that he had to leave the land of Canan and that he had to go down to the land of Egypt andem said Al Hashem told yob that you have to go down to Egypt you're going to become a great nation there in Egypt and during those hours he could not recite the he was involved in another Mitzvah and we have a uh we have a CL in the that he was pter from the Mitzvah the mitvah mitvah because he was O he was engaged in another Mitzvah he was p from the Mitzvah KV but now that he arrived that morning that he arrived in Egypt and now he had fulfilled the Mitzvah of coming to Egypt he now had another Mitzvah new obligation was now upon him and that was the Mitzvah of reciting katma that is the interpretation that's given by R salich quoted by the Grizz and it's an interesting interpretation I think the first time that I heard that I found that kind of troubling that idea that he was reciting the shma that he had an oblig he looked at his watch it was 9:02 and he saw that he had to recite the shma where was the first time that he had the obligation but I think is teaching us and the cabic family is teaching us is something very very important something that they want to convey to us and that is the importance of the Ala the Supreme importance of ala and uh even though this was a moment that was a a moment of of of reunification and and the reunion that he has with his son and the emotion of that moment he was able to put that aside and he was able to surrender and to commit himself to the Al and that is that is a Jew that's the very definition of a Jew we know that RAB y do the grandson of R Sal one of the most important works that he penned is a work that's known as man is and in that work R salic makes that argument that's one of the central motifs of that work the central argument of that work is the idea that a Jew and what it means to be a Jew is that we are committed to Haka halaka through through all all circumstances in every circumstance and here in this circumstance as well R salv is highlighting that with everything else that was going on and the the emotions of that moment and um and a moment that he was waiting for for years and years and that he never thought could have happened even within that he was able to commit himself devote himself and surrender to the AL if I have if I have an obligation at this moment to recite the shma no matter what else is going on in my life my my the Supreme obligation is to Hashem the Supreme obligation is to that is the interpretation interpretation number one and we see that world the Lish world of learning the salivic approach the brisker approach and the way that they interpret that comment of Rashi that comment in the medish that Yakov was reciting at that moment there is another interpretation and there are many but another interpretation that I'd like to share with you which comes from the maharal prag and here we really touch on the world ofus not that the maral prag was Aid he lives before theic movement but what he's expressing we'll see in a moment is an idea that's found uh within and emphasized within theic world and he writes the following and I'll and I'll open with the actual words the maral prag it's found in the gor this is embra on the which describes that meeting of Yakov hear the words of the that moment that he finally saw his son the reunion with his son that he waited 22 years and he thought that his son was no longer living and now he sees his son he's standing in front of his son his son is now dressed in the Garb of of a king or second to the King at that moment he felt an overwhelming sense of joy and connection to hasem that he saw that moment that maybe the questions and the doubts and and the depressing years that he had without his son that he now understood the wholeness of Hashem the truth of hem and the goodness of hem that hem ultimately gives reward to those that fear Him says this is the trait this is the character trait of people who are righteous when something good happens to them where there's a moment of goodness where a moment where one sees the hand of hem what does one do at that moment one feels Aus one feels a closeness with that you feel the the closeness to Hashem at that moment and you want to give gratitude to Hashem and you want to reach out to Hashem and that says maral is what yakob does at that moment and that is the kma that the the reciting of the that moment of yov was a way of Yakov channeling that great joy that he had not only to express it to yoseph but but to take a step back and at that moment to turn to Hashem and to say say to Hashem how much I love you Hashem how much I see the goodness of Hashem and how difficult it was over those years but now I see the light of Hashem now I see the the I see the shos I see how all of it has come together and therefore he recited the shma the shma was not an obligation at 902 to recite the shma that yakob was saying but it was an expression of thanks it was an expression of gratitude as the maral says an expression of De that he felt a closeness to Hashem and he wanted to express that and says the maral this is the way of of righteous people that moments in life when we feel that something great has happened where blessing has happened to us that we take a step back and we say thank you Hashem there was a video that was going that was going around I saw at AR of shabas people were talking about as well of a soldier you know they show over these the past few weeks of soldiers that have been away for many days or many weeks and they come home and they surprise their parents and one of the the scenes was caught on video of a soldier that came into the base medish and his father was learning and his father looked up and he saw his son and he jumped up to hug his son and in that Embrace he recites the shma he says just as jakov did when he saw Ys so um that is what the maral is expressing here as well that that's what Yakov was doing a third explanation this really comes from the world what I would say the world of the the muser movement of the great muser teachers and um it comes from a parish of R Zalman sasin he writes a parish is a well-known classic Parish o lur he was one of the great G Ador he lived in Eastern Europe in the Ukraine he uh he made his way to uh to ER Israel he passes away here inam in the 19 60s and one of the one of the leading of of the past generation and he says the following he quotes from the gamar Bros the the gamar Bros says that if you feel the Yara that is overwhelming you if somehow you're not able to kind of win that battle to overcome that battle with the Yahara so what does one do so the gamar says the following it says the first thing that you should do is run to the bass medish go to the Bas medish and if you're in the bass medish you're going to you know kind of feel the the atmosphere the environment of a study hall of a Sho and you'll be able to overcome the Yahara the gamar says if that doesn't work if you're in the B medish if you're in the sh and it's still you're still feeling the that that desire or the pangs of the Yahara so you should recite kashma you should call out with the word shayel and with that you'll be able to overcome the Yahara and the gamar says if that doesn't work work if you've tried that and that still doesn't seem to do the trick so the gar says you should remember y you should think about the day of death you should think about the fact that you're going to be standing before God in judgment and that will help you overcome the Yahara according to R Zalman surkin if you look at theim you'll see in theim that this is exactly what happens and in this order that theim say that Yehuda was first sent down to MIT and why was he sent to go to erid Goan to go to MIM in order to set up a base Med so that is Step number one to have a Bas medish to have a place of Refuge have a place to to resist the Yar and then the next p speaks about Yakov that recites the shma that reciting the shma is a way to to offset right to to fend off the Yar and then yov says right after that it says I can now die now that I have seen you so it says R zalan saski says you see all three here that you have the Bas medish you have kma and you have remembering the Yum hamisa so what is this kma that is being recited by Yakov the way that it's being interpreted in this context is that Yakov realizes that he's entering MIM that he has left ER Canan he has left the Holiness the sanctity of er Israel he's now in a place of Tuma he is now in a place of uh of MIT of matar not an easy place to be for the Jewish people and he recognizes this and he calls out with the shma that's the idea of the shma that he calls out with the shma as a way of showing one's dedication to the Torah the dedication Faith even in a society even in an atmosphere in a culture that is going to be difficult to uh to deal with and to fend off in term in ter terms of the Yahara so here we have a third explanation which really comes from the world of the Bal mus in terms of how does one deal with the Yahara how does one remain committed how does one remain pure and one of the ways of doing that is that one recites the shma that one turns theim in the Torah turns to learning turns to T the Torah and with that that one is uh one remains committed to Hashem I want to share one other idea and this really brings us into this week's paraa so we're coming off ofos and we're moving into V and one of the one of the one of the beautiful and dramatic and another very dramatic scene is the last uh the last hours of the life of Yakov and Yakov is going to pass away the beginning of the par speaks about the life of of jakov and the end of his life and he gathers his children together and he has them around around his uh around his bed and he knows that he's in the the last moments of of his life and he turns to his children at that point and what is the message that he's conveying to his children what is it that they are sharing with one another in those last moments what's interesting is that it's um the midash speaks about what happens at that time and the midash is a midash that's actually quoted by the rambam in Hil the laws of and I would say it's rare to find in the rambam where the ramb is quoting a story or where he's quoting at a God and here we do have an AIC section from the uh from the gamar which is found in in the R so the rambam says the following I'll read to you the words of the ramb this is right at the beginning of kma and he tells us the following story well he begins with the one who reads when you finish the first you then say quietly you then say that we're all familiar with recite the first words out loud and then you you then you recite the second line you do it quietly and the says where does that come from of that second line and why do we read the that way and why that P in particular he says that we have a longstanding tradition we have a TR when he gathered his children in when he was about to pass away what did he speak to his children about about he spoke to his children about the importance of believing in one God the and he told them and he reminded them of this path that and that our forefathers took in terms of their faith in and he asked them he said to is there somebody here who is not fit is there somebody here who does not believe in the Oneness of and says all of them said together and they they called out so the first time that the shma is recited according to this m according to this long-standing tradition that we have is that the children of Yakov call out and they say is listen is and Israel in this case is referring to their father is his name Isel that we believe and what does that mean is please hear from us our father Israel and here's the key line at that moment yov then opened his mouth Amar and prophetically he said the following words shame blessed is the honor is the name that is honored his his kingdom should last forever and ever says the ra therefore this has become the custom of the entire Jewish people every time that we recite to say those same words of Praise that yob said after the opening P of shma Isel so we see something very beautiful about kma and what the shma is all about that it also takes us the very first Source according to the rambam the very first time that it's recited is that it's recited by yakob it's recited by his children and together they say and it's yov who who responds there is a beautiful Insight that's shared by and he talks about two times in our history where we have kma which really stand out as unique recitations of kma he speaks about RAB aka's kma that RAB AKA as he's brought to brought to his death that he says for the very first time in my life I'm able to say with all of my soul with with full kavana because I'm willing to give my life and with that with the that is so leaves him that is an episode of kma and we have the episode of yakob that we just spoke about in terms of all of his children and the unity and the Oneness of of the family together as they're all calling out with the Oneness of Hashem how beautiful that scene is that the portrayal of that of that scene roic says those kmas the kma OFA and the kma of yakob and the children correspond to the kma of the night and the katma of today we know that we have an obligation both at night and both in the morning to recite the shma he says the morning shma that represents that Yakov shma how beautiful how remarkable was that moment how how how outstanding was that moment where all of them together and the light that was shining at that moment of a family that had come together the family with their with their faith in asem and seeing how it all how it all came together that Schamus like the Mahal said earlier Theus and and the Tove and the goodness of Hashem that they felt at that moment and they all responded with the words of the shma that's the morning shma there are moments in life that we see the blessing of Hashem we see the light of Hashem we see the goodness of Hashem and to some degree it's easy for us to recite the shma it's almost natural as Yakov did to recite the shma but then there are times that it's more difficult and that RAB salik says is the nighttime shma at night when we recite the shma where it's dark out where we don't easily see the hand of Hashem where where the goodness of hasem is somewhat obscured where it's hidden at that moment also like RAB AA we call out with the shma we express our faith even even where it's difficult to do so even where we don't see the light of hasem the goodness of Hashem that's why the shma is recited in the morning and recited at at night we recite it in the good times and in the difficult times in the dark times as well says RAB salvic represented by RAB evma and the shma of Yakov and his children I want to just close with one uh one other interpretation actually coming back to the to the interpretation or to that story of of yakob and Yosef where they reunite with one another and I want to turn to a safer the is KES the safer KES by the P of Colonus cman of Petna and we know that this safer is is such a special safer in the sense that it was written in the wars s ghetto during a during the darkest speaking of the dark times of re AA but the dark times of the Holocaust and these were the words and the sermons and the teachings that the Pat the rebi would give to hisim during some of the most difficult difficult of days and uh it's a safer that we turn to especially in these days and we're waking up every morning and we're hearing about the uh about soldiers our our finest and our most beautiful boys men and women that we are losing rahmanan on on a daily basis this morning there were eight soldiers that we woke up to with their names that were killed over over the last day and uh along with with others that were injured very seriously it's a time that we are it's a time that we also are are are searching for for guidance and for the light of hem in in these dark days so the also has a comment in thees about that kma of Yakov the kma of Yakov when he sees Yosef and he says the following what was that kma all about and he writes and this is the first piece that he has in paros he writes that when yose saw his father and he fell on his neck it's interesting he points out it doesn't say that he fell on his face or that they hugged one another but that he fell on his neck and what does it mean out his neck according to B the neck represents the old it represents the heaviness that we feel the difficulty when we're carrying something carrying on our shoulders the pain that we're carrying on our on our shoulders and Yosef was saying to his father how difficult it's now going to be for the Jewish people that he recognized and with rodes as well that now that the family was moving to Egypt that they're now after so many years of being in Canan here they had to leave the land of Canan the promised land and they're coming to Egypt and yose recognizes how difficult the galut is going to be Al the the pain that we're going to carry the struggle that we're going to carry for thousands of years in this galut and how does Yakov respond to ysf says the PNA he responds to Yosef by saying no that we're going to be able to withstand this test we're going to be able to survive this long galut and all the difficulty that we're going to face and how are we going to do that we're going to do that by reciting the shma and this is what and let me just read just a line to you from the P from thees and he showed him he expressed to yose no we're going to be able to survive this and we're going to be able to survive this how through reciting thees through our through our dedication through our love of Hashem and and we're going to give our soul we're going to give everything that we have in order to survive this and to be dedicated to Hashem and we are going to make it through this long galut and he quotes from the that every morning when we recite the and we recite it with appropriately properly the rest of our and our service to hasem for the rest of the day then it will follow in that same path says the we should start each day we should begin each day with reciting kma reciting it properly reciting with kavana with a sense of closeness to Hashem with dedication to Hashem and from that will follow throughout the rest of the day a uh a closeness to Hashem that we can follow in the mitzvot in the ways of Hashem and the P leaves us with a message that yakob teaches his son and teaches us and that is that with dedication yes the difficult days that we are in but by reciting kma with a commitment to mitv with our to our ding to our learning to our said that we're going to make it through these days and Hashem is with us throughout so be um we will be Z to see better days ahead we're going to do that by reciting the shma every day by ding every day by learning every day by being one another by bringing strength to one another through our through our concern through our empathy and B we're going to make it through these days and we pray for a Salvation we pray for a we pray for safety for our soldiers and for those that are in captivity and a healing for those that have been injured andem that we should see a let us conclude with the as we do uh each time that we learn together uh with a prayer that Hashem protects all of us all those that are In Harm's Way and uh is uh brings guidance and uh and is a safeguard to uh to us and for all of us we can conclude together good seeing everyone this morning I wish everyone well theot and look forward to seeing you soon have a good week shab