Parshas Vayechi: Galus and Geula

this Torah class is brought to you by Torah anytime.com so we mentioned many times that Pas saer Bas the whole saer Bas is called sa the book of creation well the beginning of Bara speaks about the creation of the world but even beyond that all of the episodes of Abraham is and yob all of the stories that happened to them are the creation of the history of the Jewish people whatever happens to our forefathers is a pre-enactment it's a symbolic representation of whatever is going to happen to us throughout our history and therefore the last is the preenactment really of the last chapter of our history which is the Gus that we're in today the Exile that we're in today which is called gas Ro the Roman Exile Ed and ASU descends to that is the symbolic pre-enactment of our current Exile okay today we're in we're in the United States of America Hashem has given us um The Good Fortune to be in a country that allows us to practice our our religious um practices and gives us freedom however we still have to realize we're in gas we're in Exile and this Exile is called Galos Ry and we're going to see that many of the different features that happened to yabo as he goes down to really are very symbolic of the way we went into gas um the GS that we're in today okay let's take a look at number one the ran the ran the very first ran on this week's para take a look at number one lived in the land of 17 years I've already mentioned says ran jakob's descent to is our present Exile be represented by the fourth animal seen in Daniel's Daniel the Prophet saw a vision of four different four different animals each one representing a different Exile the final that he saw the final animal that he saw represents our current Exile okay which is RI har the evil Roman Empire okay now let us look at some of the features of yob going down to MIM first of all we have to realize did the Egyptians come into the land of Israel and Exile the Jewish people into Egypt no we went on our own we went on our own well how did we go on our own we caused we brought it upon oursel we sold yose down to M then we went to look for him we brought it on ourselves the sons of yob themselves cause their descent there by selling their brother so the first thing we have to realize about our exile to is we caused it we brought it upon ourselves okay another thing another thing is the yob went down there because of famine okay so the first thing is why did we go down to MIT the MIT the Egyptians didn't Exile us down to Egypt we caused it to ourselves number two it was brought on by famine number three you could just imagine know yob ofu was sitting in in the land of Egypt is he thinking to himself that this is a hopeless situation for the Jewish people no you know what he's thinking to himself my son Yosef is second in command he's buddy buddy with the King if we ever have a problem we have connections we're well connected okay thought he would be spared through his son because his son is very friendly with par loved y he was like a son y was like par son okay so that's a third feature number one we call our own descent down to Egypt number two it was brought on by famine number three we thought we were well connected number four we thought we would get out of there very quickly we thought we would go down to Egypt and come right back to Israel we thought we would eventually get out as soon as the famine was over we thought okay back to Israel like tell us we have come to descend we have come to sojourn in the land of in the land of Egypt David what does it mean lagor Lor is temporary to sojourn just temporary they thought it would be temporary because they said we don't have enough pasture for our cattle Canan because the hunger is very strong in Canan but did they go up did they leave Egypt no it took a long a lot longer than expected they never went up yov and his sons never came out of Egypt the Exile lasted a very long time yov not only didn't go out out of Egypt he died there and what was brought back to Israel his bones his bones his body who brought him up the Elders of parro the Elders of parro and his officers brought him up and as they're bringing him up they're mourning the mour they're mourning him okay listen to how each one of these features is a direct preenactment of our current state in our goas today look what he says in the second paragraph likewise us IM red in our current state of Galos in Rome and Edam how did we get into the gas that we're in today did the Romans come into the land of Israel and say you know we don't like you Jews you know we're going to we're going to Exile you no we made a treaty with them during the times of the second temple we went out of our way we took the initiative to go to Rome and make treaties with Rome so the Romans didn't come and Exile us we brought it upon ourselves our own Brothers caused us to come to them we sealed covenants with the Romans we seal covenants with them lezra the final King of the Jewish people in the times of the second temple you ever hear of agrias he fled to Rome to seek shelter in Rome just like the Jewish people fled to Egypt to seek shelter in Egypt we're learning how all of the various aspects of yacob's descent to Egypt is a pre-enactment of our state and gas today okay so that's one one R yes some of the literature that I've seen it basically says that we weren't having a famine in Kanan but that that uh Yakov said got to go because we don't want to set the precedent that everybody else think that we got a lot correct that's how it started eventually they too needed uh even the family of Yakov were depleted their resources were deated but at first you're correct they only went because they didn't want to show off that they were uh everything was good for them okay plus plus just like what brought us down to Egypt famine famine what happened in the time of the second temple why ultimately did the Yim fall because the storehouses were burnt down and there was famine and the Jews had nothing to eat the men of were captured because of famine and just like they went down to Egypt they thought they would come right out and the Gus lasted decades even hundreds of years so too we thought Rome would Exile us but eventually we'd come back to is no the gas has lasted over 2,000 years listen to what he says okay I'm sorry no just like when they were in Egypt did they have any idea when they would leave they had no idea how long they would be there so to today we have no idea how long we're going to be in this Exile not like when they went to B when they went to Babylonia they knew 70 years and then they'd come back to Israel this Exile we have no idea listen to what he says at this point says the ran the spiritual status of the Jewish people were like we're like it's like we're dead it's like we're dead we say and eventually when we will return to Israel we will return like ycob did but as bones we will be on such a low level that just like yobu returned to Israel not alive but with as bones so too the Jewish people mhia will come will be on a very low level the spiritual level will be like we're we're like bones it's like we're not even alive spiritually and but when the nations of the world see our return to Israel what will their reaction be when they brought yob up to Israel from MIM what did the nations of the world do they mourned so too when Mia comes all the nations of the world will be mourning our success Okay so take it a little bit further n say outside number two a fascinating piece from the V the V wrote a commentary on a cabalistic work called saffra ditusa not a well-known saare not a safer that uh it's easy to get a hold of I got a copy today I was able somebody got me a copy it's not in my house yet it's but um it's in my it's in my possession I don't it's not in my house yet the villon wrot a commentary on the sa but this comment is not cabalistic but listen to what he says he says we say in the T after we read the T in chabas we say is the house of our life meaning the bik is the house of our life and when theik was destroyed as if to say we're dead we're dead we're dead okay but at Le you have a if you're dead when a person is dead his body he still has flesh he still has a body says Theon but when we left the land of Israel when our enemies exiled us to all the nations of the world that was like interment that was like burial that's like we're being buried then slowly slowly as the years of Exile have gone on our body begins to Decay this is referring to the spiritual level of the Jewish people our body begins to decay okay but at least you have bones when the body decays you know you put a body in the ground for a long time you come back 100 years later there are bones there so at least we had bones you know what those bones were the Great Torah of Babylonia we had surra P these were great yes we had great great Torah sages so at least our bones were intact we had some stature but you know when you're in the ground long enough even the bones begin to Decay the bones begin to Decay you know yeah and the bones turn into dust says the V nowadays the spiritual level of the Jewish people is beyond Misa it's beyond burial we don't even have bones anymore the Bones have turned toar to dust that's why we say may we always thought that means here we're lying in the dust Shake us off from the dust says the v no not Shake us off from the dust where we are Shake us off from the dust that we are we have become dust compared to the spiritual level of the Jewish people that in the time that the temple stood we're Beyond dead we're Beyond rotted we don't even have bones we're like dust we're like dust and that's what the ran is saying that ultimately when we're brought back to is will be brought back as bones okay something to think about let's begin the para something a little bit more concrete okay open up the kashim I want to draw your attention to an incredible feature of every single par in the Torah except for this week's para take a look at the end of sa Paras Bas okay page 28 okay page 28th the end of Paras Bas what do you have after the para after the last p in the par what do you have right after that PK pay pay pay what does that mean what does that mean pay pay pay pay up you know if you you at the end of the pr in case you owe any money to the sh you know it's reminding you pay up what does it mean pay pay pay what is that Z now at the end of every single part look at the end of page page 52 pay pay pay you know it's like these subliminal advertising you know for this what's what are these pays it's a sign that when you write a say for Torah and the par has concluded and you want to start the next paraa you need to skip a line and begin the next paraa on the next line okay so Paras parous begins you want to write skip a line okay what skip a line skip a line at the end of every single par you have three pays except for the end of Paras turn to page turn to page 142 page 142 the end of par toos you don't have three pays page 142 you have three Sak what does that what does that do that says like this don't skip a line don't skip a line in the sa Torah skip a bunch of spaces how much how much space should you leave between the end of the last para and this para nine letter space okay okay three pay skip a line three s skip nine letters tab it's a tab right turn to para this week's para there is no space at all you don't skip to the next line you don't skip nine letters it goes straight into it okay look at the end of page 266 and the Jewish people settled in the land of in the land of Goen they took a hold of the land they proliferated they increased very much no pays no begins as if it's one long para this is called stuma it's sealed it's sealed there is no space whatsoever between it's like it's closed up it's like we're in a dark tunnel why why Rashi asked this question question look at number three Rashi asks L why is thisha sealed up okay it's on the sheet number three why is this why is this um paraa sealed up there right now there two types of suuma we just mentioned earlier that say you don't skip a line you just leave over nine letters of space that's also called suuma closed up cuz you don't skip a line but this is completely closed up Rashi wants to know why is this par completely closed up says rashu when yov ainu passed away this week's para talks about the passing of Yakov the eyes and the Heart of the Jewish people were sealed up from the distress of bondage because at this point of time whenu passed away the bondage began so you know why this para sealed up to signify that our minds and our hearts have been sealed up it's like you know we have no we can't breathe anymore we have no breathing room we we're so closeted life is so difficult that's why these two paral are closet are sealed up that's what Rashi says another explanation you I sealed up said my life is coming to an end I need to tell my my children when Mia is going to come yob wanted to reveal to the Jewish people when the kesu and it was closed up from him it was sealed up from him it was hidden from him and to signify that yakov's Divine connection to hasem was sealed up and cl it up there is no opening there is no space between and if you look in the Torah it's as if not only is it one par it's as if it's one long there's no space whatsoever just a space of one letter okay comes along the ma the commentaries come and they ask a very Jewish question ready for the question if you look in and say for Torah and there's no space at all between so who told you it's another para maybe it's not another para maybe it's one long para why because Rashi looked in this art and it says a new para that's how he knew look the only way to know that a new para begins is by looking in the sa Torah that has been transmitted for the last 3,300 years and you look whenever you see a big space you KN you know a big para is about to end and the new para is going to begin but if there is no space between who told Rashi that it is a new maybe is one long if in fact there is no space so where did Rashi get it from that it's that it's two separate paros so the G if you look at number four says well look the whole saer Torah was transmitted through an expert Scribe by the name of Ezra and we must have a tradition from Ezra that begins a new para even though if you would look in the sear you you see no indication of a new para nevertheless it must be we have a tradition that begins a new para a little bit difficult basically what the gar is saying is we don't really have any logical proof that is a new para but the fact that we're the fact that every Jew knows is a new para it must must be because we have some type of tradition must be we have a messiah everybody right just like you know you have to fil the fish on shabas it's a tradition if you're ashkanazi right so is a new para we're going to try to come up with perhaps a basis how do we know has to be a new para listen to this was the Torah written in order is the Torah written in order the meaning if one event appears here and another event appears a few verses later does it mean necessarily that that event happened later is the Torah written in chronological historical order no no what is that called there's no order in the Torah just because you know you read something here and then you turn the page and you read something afterwards doesn't mean it happened in that order Torah was not written in chronological order however says the that's only in two separate paros you read something in one para you read something in the next para so what happened in Para 2 that did not necessarily happen after para one but within one para it has to be in order in other words within each para there's an order para two doesn't necessarily have to come after para one but within one para it has to be in order take a look at the very last P of par okay the very last verse in page 266 okay what does it say the Jewish people lived in Egypt Goen in the land of Goen they took a hold of the land and they increased tremendously the Jewish people began to proliferate they began to have a lot many many children one second when did the Jewish people begin to proliferate we know the Jewish now when we say proliferate it doesn't mean they had you know like a a nice American family you know one it means they had a big big huge families they began to proliferate unnaturally when did that start when when did that Miracle happen it it began to happen as soon as the bondage happened as soon as the M began to enslave us because we're going to read as as they began to afflict us the more they whipped us the more they hit us the more they worked us the more we grew the more we increased in size that means the proliferation did not occur until the bondage began when did The Bondage begin Rashi says the bondage didn't begin until Yakov passed away so wait a second in parash yob did not pass away yet so if he didn't pass away yet that means the bondage didn't begin yet so we have something that's out of order here the end of parash it says the Jews began to proliferate the beginning of it talks about yov passing away in the bage beginning so how could the Torah tell you that they began to proliferate before the bondage began it's out of order so you say no problem it's out of order the Torah doesn't have to be in order but in one para it does have to be in order must be are two separate this is the proof that's how Rashi knows that and are two separate cuz look at the the end of it talks about CL increasing in size look at the beginning of it talks about the bondage beginning that's out of order they didn't begin to increase in size until after the the bondage began so how could the end of a talk about the increasing of in size and the beginning of talk about the bondage it's out of order must begins a new para and in two separate paros it doesn't have to be in order make sense in other words the way that we know that begins a new is because the end of speaks about something that occurred after the beginning of how is that possible the Torah has to be in order it must be it's a separate para entirely it must be it's a separate para okay let us move on a little bit take a look in the be in the middle of the [Applause] par 50 ver4 okay this is talking about after the death of yobu and after he passes away they emomed him you know what I they mummified him they made him into a mummy a question yeah sure before last yeah because what it say in the last it says okay they increased in size now one second they didn't increase in size until the bondage began the Torah hasn't told us yet that the bondage began so we have a problem how could the end of a say something that happened after something that the beginning of talks about we have something that's out of order the last of should be after the first of but but there's no separation between the last and the first it must be that's how we know that it's a separate par and in two paros we say that doesn't have to be in order okay okay look at chapter 50 verse4 okay and this is going to bring us to a big problem and that is Rashi told us that from the time Yakov ainu passed away what happened when Yakov passed away because what started when yov passed away the slavery the she the slavery began when yob passed away not really true the slavery did not begin yet parous VA in two weeks from now we're going to read how the slavery did not begin until the 12 tribes passed away until all the 12 brothers passed away the slavery did not begin so how could Rashi tell us that when y passed away the the she began she did not begin until all the 12 brothers passed away Ley lived out lived all the other brothers until Ley passed away the bondage didn't begin so it's a little bit of a problem another problem is they mummified yakob for 40 days they cried for him for 30 days at the end of the 70 days Yosef has to go to parro and say to parro parro I need you to do me a favor I want to bury my father in is fine take a look at very interesting thing the days of crying passed elar Ys spoke to the house of parro saying if I have found favor in your eyes please go to and tell him that my father made me take an oath that I'm going to bury him in Israel please let me honor my my my oath to my father something very interesting here why is ysep going to the house of parro and asking them to intercede on his behalf what ysep wasn't powerful enough to go to parro himself when yob when yosef's son came down to MIM what does Yakov do he marches right into parro and he meets parro even yov was able to go directly to parro what happened to ysep that all of a sudden he needs an inter medary he can't go to parro himself he goes to you know the house of parro he goes to the House of Representatives do me a favor go speak to par on my behalf what happened to Ys what happened to him says you know what happened to him his stature and position diminished and went down down down down down as soon as yob ainu died the Egyptians did not look at ysf in the same way yeah sure he was the one who prepared them for the famine he was the one who took care of the country but you know how politics go he fell out of their favor and as soon as Yakov died he went down down down down they didn't honor him as much he wasn't as important in in the eyes of parrow and the eyes of Egypt as he once was and the proof is when they when the Egyptians went to um bury par bury Yakov they didn't even let the 12 tribes have a prominent roll in the burial they told them to take a back seat if you look in theim it was only on the way back when they saw how all the kings of the world came to honor yakob at his funeral they said oh you must be important people they let them escort uh at the front of the line on the way back to Egypt but on the way down yov yose theim they lost their stature in the eyes of Egypt says the mascal of David remember we had a question how could Rashi say that the reason why there is no separation between Vash and is to signify the fact that the bondage began as soon as yov died it's not true the bondage did not begin the bondage didn't begin until the tribes passed away no what R means is a certain element of the bondage began how does how does bondage begin the high ranking officials start to lose their stature and position when Rashi says the she began when yakob passed away he meant the stature of the Jewish people sank in the eyes of the Egyptians the bondage did not actually begin yet but the but the stature that Yosef had in the eyes of MIM that's what began to fall because otherwise and what's the proof why Yosef could not go directly to parro and say parro let me bury my father why did he have to go to the base parro the the house of parro it's because he no longer was had that connection to parro he lost his political connection why yob so important in why did yob oh you know why because until he came there was two years of famine and as soon as he came the famine stopped what two years of what famine ra hunger so they saw this guy you know it's a imagine the market is falling and you hire a new president all of a sudden it's skyrockets so you see this this is a special person he knows what he's doing but they saw as soon as yov came to Egypt the famine stopped not only that yob gave parro a blessing that when parro walks to the N River the river is going to rise to toward parro and it happened so they they they honored yakob they realized he was a holy man okay however says the m and Theo the fact that yose did not go directly to parro is no indication that his stature fell you know why ysep couldn't go directly to parro because he was an O what's an O A close relative dies before you bury them you're called in on you allowed to take a shower no you allowed to put on fresh clothing no Yos is going to go to the King after 70 days his father hasn't been buried in 70 days he hasn't showered in 70 days he hasn't changed his clothing in 70 days how's he supposed to go to his to of the king he's going to walk into the king you know just imagine what kind of uh what he looked like he had a long you know long overgrown beard he was like another no haircut for 70 days King has to take a haircut every single day and here he went 70 days without a haircut 70 days without a shower the fact that he didn't go directly to parro is no indication of his Fallen stature it's because he was an on was not allowed to bathe not allowed to change his clothing take a look at at this farno look at number eight look at take a look at number eighto why did Yosef speak to the house of parro these are the words of the spno the spno is one of the most underrated mafam in a few words he sheds light on an entire episode look what he says he paraphrases a verse in Miguel suck can't go to the king wearing scko Yosef was an on he wasn't properly attired so don't tell me that what Rashi means that when Yakov died the stature of the Jewish people began to sink as indicated by the fact that Yosef couldn't go to parro no ysf couldn't go to parro because he was mourning his father says rakov ketki no that's not a good reason you know why what's the reason why in on is now to take a shower now to bathe now to change his clothing not an O you see there's a difference between an on and an O an O is when the mace when the person has already been buried that point also these things are prohibited but until the until the body is buried you're not an OV you're not mourning you're an Onin why can't you take a shower why can't you change your clothing because you have a responsibility you know what the responsibility is to bury the mace and you're allowed to do whatever it takes to bury the mace and if necessary you need to speak to an official you're allowed to take a shower you're allowed to change your clothing cuz you're not being distracted from your job you're doing it to be able to fulfill your job and in order for Yosef to be able to get access to to get powerl to allow him to go to Israel he needed to change he needed to shower he needed to take a haircut so rakov kamki does not accept that the reason why ysf couldn't go directly to power is because he was mourning because in this instance would have been permitted and therefore the fact that he didn't go to directly to parro is an indication of his diminish diminishing stature in the eyes of power okay tell you two more things what that's according to Rabbi yes who knows no so so um it's oh okay reob ketki he was uh he lived during this century and he certainly was not a prophet and God did not communicate with him directly however the gar tells us a is better than a prophet why because the prophet heard what God says the he doesn't even have to hear he's able to figure it out on his own so he's even greater he doesn't even need Hashem to tell him but very important rule is that God gave gave the Torah to the sages of the generation and whatever they say that's the way it is the gamar tells us a story how there was a halic dispute and God came down with a Heavenly voice and he said the is like this and the rabbi said no the Hala is like that so who do we listen to We don't listen to Hashem we listen to the rabbis why cuz Hashem said about the Torah Basham I am he it's not in the heavens God does not have the authority of the over the Torah it was given to the sages of the generation but what if they're making a mistake there's no such thing whatever they say that's the truth that's the way it is God Gave Over the oral law to the rabbis of the generation to the great rabbis of the generation great rabbis tells 10 different stories so all 10 is no in general in general most fundamental issues the rabbis agree most fundamentalist the rabbis agree there may be slight variances but all the rabbis agree whether it's RAB MOS Feinstein or they all agree you put yourin on your arm in the exact same space they agree what thein look like what color it is what the straps are how many straps they're very 99.9% of all Judaism there's unanimity there minor things that there is dispute about okay we're going to end off with one thing okay dessert yobu wanted to reveal to his children when mhia will come but it was hidden from him and he didn't reveal what happened says if you have a number 15 you take have an opportunity to take a look yov looked at the names of all his children Ru Shimon Ley Yehuda and so on and he saw that every letter of the alphabet the Jewish alphabet was was present in the names of the except for and Tess what do and Tess spell test big sadik in my children are they don't have any let me tell them when mashia is coming but then he realized one second there are two other letters that they don't have either K and sad Kates ah they don't have the Kates in them I won't tell them the Kates that's what the med says okay he saw they don't have they don't have they're worthy to hear when the Mia is coming but then he saw they don't have KU and sad I can't tell them about the Kates what does this Mish mean first he thought he saw they don't have a and a and he was going to tell them about the cas and then he saw they don't have a and a the same time that he saw they don't have a a he also should have seen they don't have a why at first was he GNA tell them and then he changed his mind listen to this he saw they don't have a a he also saw they don't have a but that's not a problem because when his sons were standing together remember we learned last week what did they all say to yob is we have one God we're all together what what is it called when the Jews get together they were one B sad so even though in their names they don't have a KU andad but in the Gathering when they come together K andad there's a k and they have a k you could use the K and thead from their at this point yob did not know that the brothers had sold y down to M at this moment yov had AES he now he saw how they all ended up in M that you'll see in this week's par yov tells them you embittered your brother you sold your brother ah yob they don't really have such a strong kots they don't have one Gathering they may be saying sh is but it became revealed to Y that they sold their brother if they don't have that I can't tell them about the Kates at first yov saw they don't have a and a test but even though they don't have the K the Gathering the was able to produce the K the but then he saw it wasn't such a strong and he was not able to tell them about the Kates and that's why it was hidden from him and that's why is the only par in the whole Torah where there's no opening there's no separation between and because unfortunately we were not worthy to hear when mhia will come however as soon as we reunite and then we'll only be missing the but we will have the and and that's the point of time that we'll hear the call of amen amen you've just experienced another Torah class brought to you by Torah anytime.com