Parsha Perspectives for Today (Mikeitz 5784/2023) - Your Future Self

good morning it should be a good morning should be a good day for the Jewish people we should sweeping Victory hostages should be brought home our soldiers should return to their families and we should hear only good things should have miracles of this khaka filled with light to dispel all of this darkness which is surrounding us I want to thank our generous Pasha Siri sponsors for the year beckan AI cats our dear friends the cats is memory of De Becky's father our learning is Le D Ben Man David grman today's she is also sponsored by goldi in honor of and Doris kurzer her dear aunt and uncle should be well have good health and it's wonderful to have them back okay following sh immediately we will as always complete all of Saum please remain for a few moments to complete all of Saum in the Merit of those that we so love and think about a few words about KHAK and we'll dive into the para Mikes it's a great para not just because it's my bar mitzah para but it's a great para filled with an incredible narrative and storyline lessons and para perspectives for today a word or two about khakas because we can't find ourselves on the fifth day of khaka without mentioning a word or thought about the points out that the gar tells us in oils and Wicks that are ineligible that do not qualify to light the shabas candles with they are permissible they qualify Hally one is allowed to light them for the kanaka candles and certainly the gamar is talking about strictly speaking Hally it means in the definition of what are appropriate materials what qualify there are oils and Wicks we say by m lean every Friday night and enumerate and list many of them there are oils and wicks that you're allowed to use that burn beautifully and purely and catch fire easily and there are those that are putrid or those that don't burn purely or produce a nice light which are ineligible certainly it means Hally it means technically even those that are disqualified ineligible for shabas are qualified for khah but the the ramar and others understands it to mean homiletically what it means is a a je is a sh is an illusion to the is theof and the wick is symbolic of the body it means a yid who doesn't connect to shabas the Jew who struggles to get into who will be moved by or elevated or enriched by chabas nevertheless can be inspired by Kaneka the oils and Wicks that don't ignite for chabas are Kosher for khah the Jew who can't get excited by and doesn't get into shabas khaka is something special Kan comes along and it lights up the Jewish Soul we dispel the darkness we look at those candles in we don't utilize they don't have utility we don't read or we don't see next to them but we simply stare at them and we stare into our own soul we see the flicker of the flame and we see our soul dancing the same with the candle whatever Direction you hold it the flame flickers it dances up similarly however you hold our body whatever direction we face whether we're on the ascent or we feel we're on The Descent even when we're turned upside down the flame still flickers up we're still striving and climbing and growing and that that's what it means that even the oil and Wick which is ineligible for shabas the Jew who's not excited doesn't get lit by shab can get lit by we get excited by and that's what it means in what called the in the per ofum that's made up of two columns we mention all these great things of God we end one of the things we say is God you make great lights it says the what that means is what are the lights is plural what are the great lights that you make in your kindness you give us access you you expose us to Sparks or light or Flames to ignite our soul what are those orim what are those lights shabas andas is called rest and Joy or chabas is a weekly light for Jews or and khaka of course is obviously we light the candles in your kindness you give us access you allow us to plug ourselves in you allow us to become inspired you allow ourselves to be lit up this khaka is a very different difficult time to get lit up it's very hard it's very hard and I know we're now five today's the fifth day of Kaneka my good friend Ben Isaac's put out a little video this morning he said the fifth day means that there's more candles of the manura lit than unlit it's a big Turning Point on Kaneka we're more than halfway there it means the manora is more than 50% on fire we should be more than 50% lit on fire on our way to being entirely lit up it's the fifth day it's a big day we're more than 50% but it's a difficult Kaneka and we're all struggling are we just supposed to eat sanot and play drele and listen to music and sing and dance and go to concerts and it's not an ordinary Kaneka it's not an ordinary khaka when there are soldiers trying to figure out where to light the manora in their tanks and in Gaza it's not an ordinary Kana so I W to we'll go to the par in one moment but I want to end the Kana section by telling you an amazing Insight of the ER the Kover theover says the following when do we light the candles when is the ideal time Hally when do we light we light in a very unusual time we light after after Sunset and according to most opinions even before even before nightfall in a period that's known asmos BOS means Twilight we light in the period known as Twilight and why is this very unusual very peculiar there's no other Mitzvah that we perform or fulfill who the parameter of that Mitzvah is Twilight we have Mitzvah during the day and the mishna tells us the Mitzvah during the day are from sunrise to sunset in the midst is that night or from Nightfall until dusk until dawn so what mitzah do you have that falls here when do we light the candles when is the ideal time we don't have a we light the man in and we quickly go home so we can light at the most ideal time which is shortly after during during Twilight why would we light in Twilight we have no other Mitzvah that we specifically light during Twilight B so why the b in why do we pass and that's the best time to light listen to what the Kover says when did the miracle of KH happen KHAK is essentially sort of between the B this is all we have left over this is the closest we come to the mikdash to light our in our mikash reminiscent of the CLE of the holy vessel of the in the B like the writes in when he told Aon don't worry your Mitzvah don't be jealous of we're reading now from the gifts of the the 12 leaders of the tribes and Aon begins Rashi quotes Aon was jealous he said it's not fair to me I want to offer these gifts I want to make these sacrifices and Hashem said relax don't worry yours is greater than theirs because theirs is temporary will expire and yours goes on forever what's the yours that will go on forever lighting the manura how does the lighting of the manura go on forever because we continue to light the manura today commemorating the lighting of the manura in the b mikdash in this room where are we lighting the manura it's still lit right now from shakas where is it lit many shes get this wrong where do they place and light their manura on the beima the beima if you're at least in the United States is what wall the east wall but in the B that's not where the man was where was the Mana on the Southern Wall that's why if you want to access toorah wisdom turn towards the South that's where wisdom is because the manura was on the southern wall and how was the manura lit from west to east so therefore the Mish brings down the one who lighting the man and Sh should stand with their back to the Southern Wall phasing the northern wall lighting the manura from west to east and if you look at our manura as you'd expect it is lit correctly appropriately accurately why do we do it that way in our homes we don't say light on the southern wall with your back to the southern wall facing facing the northern wall west to east why do we do it that way in SCH if we don't do it that way at home because the manur in SCH is different than the manur at home the man in is reminiscent of commemorating the way the B mikdash the man was lit in the B mikdash so the ran says was telling Aon don't worry don't be jealous don't be envious theirs is temporary but yours you're going to continue to light the man through all time how through the holiday of Kan it's all that we have left it's the closest we come to having the aod it's the only CLE that we still have and that we still light even here in the Exile even now in the darkness of the Exile we still have the light of the Mana so nighttime is gas Exile daytime light is Gula Clarity light brightness hope optimism nighttime Darkness despondency despair so when is the right time to light the manura between the day and the night because khaka is the bridge between gas and G khaka we're holding on to the B mikash but where are we kindling that light while we're in a state of Gus so when is the appropriate time to light the very vessel when is the appropriate time to commemorate the holiday which is the bridge between Galas and Gula in the time that is the bridge between gas and Gul called in other words a should feel a sense of Twilight I'm in a place in a state of Twilight happy joyous indulging L giving gifts going to kanah miss andas but I'm still in gullas and never did we feel the gullas in my lifetime as much as this year every day we wake up in the middle of the night we wake up in the morning throughout the day we have reports so soldiers giving and losing their lives dying ales hasem guliz there's no greater Gus there's no greater Gus than Harvard's letter of Faculty unanimously the board unanimously deciding their righteous president will keep her job that's Gus make no mistake that is a darkness of Gus that a person who can't say the genocide against Jews is wrong has the unanimous support there's no greater Gus there's no greater Darkness all of Boston no offense if you're from Boston is is in a great state of Darkness there is no day there is no Twilight it's just dark it's just dark as long as that University continues to have that position until MIT fires their president it's just darkness so how do we commemorate Kaneka this year like we do every year by lighting the manur during Bas by realizing that a Jew lives in that tension a Jew lives in that gray a Jew lives that and when you see the videos of soldiers in Gaza in the field bash soldiers on their base I had the privilege of experiencing it last week they're able to sing and dance and celebrate they're able to light their manura and tap into the miracle they're able to have faith and hope and optimism and find The Light Within the darkness then so can we that's where we get our strength from that lights their Mana when says the Kover says the says when do we light our Mana between when it's not entirely day we don't have the B but it's also not entirely night it's not entirely gas we still have a manura we still have the light that we can Kindle so it's that com combination and that's why we like the specifically then okay let's get into Mikes page 222 in the Arts Stone it is now at the end of two years to the day par was he's dreaming and what is his dream he's standing on the the river and when behold out of the river there emerged seven cows of beautiful appearance and robust flesh and they were grazing in the marsh land and seven other cows followed them out from that Marsh from that River and these seven next cows they were gunt of Flesh they were all taking o and they stood next to the cows on the bank of the river the pre OIC and post OIC cows next to each other on the bank of the river and the cows that were very thin and gaunt and fles flesh ate the seven robust zaftig healthy beautiful cows notice which on does the Torah call beautiful and robust and what happened this is his recurring dream how do we know it's a recurring dream how many times how long did he have this dream two years what what doesn't say it doesn't say he dreamt in past tense it's who par he's dreaming why does it say he's dreaming tell us he had a recurring dream every night he closed his eyes every night he popped his pills drank his found a way to fall asleep and every night he had the same dream par is just an autobiographical opportunity for me to sit up here and tell you about my my so parro closed his eyes and every night he had the same dream wasn't once good enough why did he have the same dream not once not for two days or two weeks or two months two years in a row he has the same recurring dream over and over and over again why why would Hashem have him have the same recurring dream for two straight years it's a great question I'll leave you with it even though we have a great answer we'll save it for another time so what's in his dream seven cows follow the seven fat cows soim you're right we're flying now we went all the way to giml here we go our new say for this year that we're going through that we adore and love but I think we don't have Beyond saer braci we have to see so par of course is agitated and aggravated if you had the same recurring dream for two years you couldn't make sense of you too would be aggravated and agitated he wakes up and he consults all of his dream interpreters and they're all worthless they all do nothing for him like when I ask my kids what to get my wife for Kaneka worthless they did nothing for him my advisers they did nothing so parro then turns and he's told we'll get to in a moment to bring ysf why couldn't they come skipping ahead we all know where the story goes why couldn't they anticipate what yosef's interpretation is how does Yosef interpretate interpret seven thin years seven fat years the thin cows eat the fat cows oh there'll be seven years of plenty and seven years of famine the famine will consume the Plenty they couldn't come up with such an N foul they couldn't come up with such a great and genius approach why is it so ingenious to realize that the seven fat years are talking about seven fat cows are talking about seven fat years and the Seven thin years are years of of uh depression the same thing with the stalks of wheat what's so great what's hears yose's interpretation spoiler alert and he says wow W who is this not he doesn't say who is this super genius what does he say who is this spiritual giant have you ever seen a man filled with such a spirit of God Yosef offered what the FED chairman would offer as an interpretation yose offers what an economist would offer as an interpretation and and parro doesn't say wow what a financial genius par says what a spiritual man somebody you could see with such Insight such Brilliance such Ingenuity must be a man of God Where's God in the economic pred and and uh strategy it's pretty logical it's a pretty logical conclusion there's another anomaly because what happens in the dream there's a point where they overlap the seven thin cows and the seven fat CS when Yosef interprets them he does not suggest that they overlap he says there'll be seven years of plenty the stock market will rocket real estate through the roof but then the economy is going to turn because they're going to elect then the econom is going to turn and everything is going to plummet and you're going to see the stock market go down the real estate go down inflation go up and there's going to be an economic downturn but it doesn't happen at the same time how did y know to interpret it that way if they if in the dream the seven thin and the seven fat cows are side by side next to each other they overlap for a time why did Yosef interpret them as seven separate time periods with no overlap says listen carefully because the truth is the years of famine did overlap with the years of of Plenty how by definition they can't overlap if you're in a period of famine if you're in an economic downturn you're not in an economic boom and if you're an economic boom you're not suffering from an economic downturn so how could they overlap how could they be integrated as one only in one way and what is that when during the economic uptick you're already planning for and saving for and thinking about the economic downturn that's how they overlap and that was yose's genius when everyone else wanted to spend spend spend spend oh we're flush with money we're so prosperous we have where should we go on vacation what should we build on to our home what how should we upgrade our car what should we buy what jewelry do you want ysf says not so fast save put away for a rainy day put away from when you're going to need live responsibly gam when a person thinks and I can't tell you how often I've seen this because I'm old enough now to have lived through a few Cycles how often people who Thrive and flourish when the economy is going crazy people in sales or mortgages or real estate who are when the econom is going great they're killing it and they believe and they craft a LIF style like it will go on that way forever and instead of realizing we happen to be having a couple good years but this may and won't last forever so I better not change my lifestyle permanently I'm not GNA have three housekeepers and a nanny and vacations and a this and of that because what happens if it's not so good one great year and now I'm going to on a data point of one great year assume that the rest of my life decades to come that's how I can live that's foolish such a person didn't have good parents or mentors or teachers to teach them save plan don't assume live modestly live live frugally but that's what y understood that's where the fell short they too could have thought oh Thin fat prosperous downturn no but it doesn't work because they they overlap in the dream how does one make them overlap in real life and the way to make them overlap in real life is that in the years of plenty you say so therefore you don't panic and you're not worried in that downturn why because you were ready for it you knew the world Works in cycles and you were ready that was built in you know where else that gets built in as one of the chairs of the orb we deal with Casas speak to the people who run the orb is the L largest Food Service V hakas outside of Israel means there are other bigger who have companies and accounts but Food Service which is the part of Casas nobody wants to do that brings it the least amount of money and has the most aggravation we have the most amount of restaurants and Caterers and we've got the most not easy speak to any restaurant owner in South Florida and they will tell you that you have to make enough in the winter to cover the summer because in the summer if you're in kosher in the summer then you don't plan to make to profit you just want to break even if you can break e even offse you're happy you need to make enough in season to cover offseason to cover off season that's a Yosef mentality that's a Yosef mentality not oh in December and Janu Yeshiva week of January that's now my week I should assume I'm gonna have that week every week oh Kana I killed it in my restaurant that's my new bar that's my new standard my new default my new Baseline that's gonna be you're a fool if you think that way you're a fool you're a fool y understood that they didn't understand what did y have what quality did he have that enabled him to see this way he lived being that was our sh this year who's a who to live with your future self in mind too many people live the present but I want but I crave but I need they live for the present as opposed to living for your future self when you live for the present you stay up all night wasting time depriving yourself of sleep but if you don't get the right amount of sleep the chances of having dementia and memory loss later in life skyrockets too many people say but but I didn't try the 17th s yet I had the chocolate and I had the cream and I had the jelly but I didn't so they don't look at their future self how their future self feels about their present self having you know more than eight a night s to commemorate this eight day holiday so we have to live we spoke about chash the future self who introduces the concept of a future self y he's Ro as that's the quality the capacity to not live in the present but to live understanding we don't forfeit or abandon the present for the future but we live fully in the present we make the most of the present by having the future inform our present the future inspire are present but who's really a wise person who has the future inform and Inspire they're present and that's why tells him does something incredibly radical Yosef does something incredibly it's a very fine line between courageous and stupid what does Yosef do yoseph is taken out of the pit cleaned up given an audience with the King he goes from the lowest most of the low to this is his chance his opportunity to get out and what is he asked to do what is his task at hand interpret the dream and does he keep it to that no he goes a little bit further he doesn't just interpret the dream what else does he do he says and if I may I'd like to now offer a suggestion I've interpreted the dream I could tell you what's happening in your subconscious subconscious and now I'd like to tell you what you should do about it you need to hire a you need somebody who's very preent who's very brilliant who has very great foresight who's very disciplined he if you're parro you could say off with your head I don't need your head with Solutions all I ask you to do was interpret the dream what I do now I don't need your help with I'm the king I'm the brilliant one I'm the CEO I'm the ruler I'm in charge instead par says o ah look at this man of God look at this man of God but yoseph understood that it's not a matter of just interpreting the dream the dream's interpretation only has fruition if it includes the solution everyone else only offered a problem everyone knows this is one of my mantras you could bring any there are a lot of things to criticize about me about our sh about our community there's a lot of ways we could improve I welcome I invite anyone to offer a constructive criticism but here is the condition you're only allowed to criticize and point out a problem if you offer a solution and if you offer to be part of the solution criticism I don't need your help I can tell you everything wrong with me too but you have to come not only with the problem and the criticism you have to come with the solution all the other said this is what it means here's the problem here's the challenge here's the issue yoseph is the only one who said and I have a solution I'd like to be part of the solution I could be part of your solution he's the only one furthermore says what accustomed y why was y already accustomed to live with the with the future in mind why was he living with his future self not just his present self I shared on shaba the research is mindboggling they able to do brain scans and surveys to evaluate how we relate how do you relate to your brother your cousin your uncle your neighbor a complete stranger an acquaintance a friend how do we rate those relationships what's your relationship with your present self meaning how much do you care about your present self how self-aware are you how much would you sacrifice and take care of yourself and what's your relationship with your future self you all look at me like you weren't at the shabash I guess I could give it again next year what's your relationship with your future self the research all shows you relate to your future self like a complete stranger Like a Stranger don't bother me future self I want this S I want to stay up another hour and deprive myself of sleep I want to lose my cool and and fly off the handle and be filled with rage why are you bothering me future self you're just a stranger I don't know you I don't care about you it's not that we relate to our future self as a close friend as a brother as a cousin as is a complete stranger but yose lived with his future self in mind he was Ro anol he knew how to live in the present inspired and informed by the future what taught him that where did he learn that from where did he learn that from because he grew up in the Bas medish of Yakov he grew up in the B medes of of his of his father and what was the B medes of his father was the mishos H the whole Jewish philosophy and Jewish approach our whole Jewish ideology our lives and our lifestyle is crafted on that this world is temporary we're just passing through this is just the antichamber this is just the lobby this is just the greeting area the real palace is the world to come so keep your eye on the ball keep your eye on the prize enjoy the ride enjoy this world take from it the beauty of it but don't ever for a moment mistakenly think this is the destination this is just the journey so from a young age all of us are raising our children and hopefully hopefully conditioning ourselves that we are preparing ourselves in this world for for the next one so therefore he learned that we don't believe we don't believe live and eat and drink and be merry for tomorrow you may die we live thinking about tomorrow should Inspire today at the highest level okay moving right along we're even turning the page even turning the page sorry I'm just having them raise the AC because for some reason it's blowing even though there's a cold front passing through so what happens what happens par is desperate he's looking for somebody to interpret accurately and properly his dream going back before the spoiler alert where we know it's Yos so speaks to and he says I remind you that I once was Boy made a mistake was putting time out do you remember you became incensed you played me in the with the with the SIM you put me in jail and I had a dream and I too I know the feeling I know what you're going through I also was aggravated and agitated I know what it was like to live with this dream and not know what it means and how to interpret it but you know while I was in prison you know now our AP the there with us there was a Hebrew youth a slave to the he was in prison with us he was in our cell and we told him and he successfully interpreted our dream in accordance with our Dream what he said what happened how he interpreted it spot on he nailed it you put me back into my and he hung the other says good enough music to my ears all I need to hear go get him so Yosef is languishing in prison helpless and hopeless he's writing on the wall you know one two three four and then counting the days that he's in prison and all of a sudden out knowwhere they say yose says yeah that's me they say come shave change your clothing you're coming before coming before Paro why why the S here does a theim does a very nice thing to parro he reminds to Ys he reminds parro that about ysf there's a part of his description of Y which is entirely gratuitous it's just obnoxious you can say when I was in jail I met somebody he knows how to interpret dreams he's your man I have a guy for you I have someone for you I have a guy for you why doesn't he just to have a guy for you why does he have to say I have a Jewish slave for you I have a Jew who's a slave a lowly Jew slave but he's good at interpreting dreams it's gratuitous why why he was trying to tell he's trying to stack the deck against Jose he's good at interpreting dreams but don't give him any position of authority B don't get him dressed in Royal garments don't give him a position of authority don't Elevate him at all why why what was thinking parro was gonna have a very positive impression of ysf he'd have an incredibly successful interaction with ysf so why because you called him a lowly Jew that was going to impact what par did with Yosef Lisa when ysf succeeds where everyone else failed where Yosef H par and saves the whole economy how's it going to help that you said EV I that you called them a lowly Jew boy slave How's that gonna help says because Sim understood you only have one chance to make a first impression wherever the anchor is dropped whatever impression is put down first it lasts it has an influence it has an impact if would hear that Y is a lowly slave it's very very very difficult to overturn and overcome a first impression a first impression very difficult very difficult you see that all the time marketing agencies work off of that the world of marketing Works off of that the world of shid Works off of that it's an incredible story of a couple in our SCH who in fact a young woman moved into a building in the upper west side and she saw a guy and she had an interest so she asked a friend about him lived in the same building and that guy hung out and talked to the door man a lot so the friend said weirdo talks to the door man a lot so in her mind she said weirdo I'm not gonna try to go out with her get set up with a weirdo I guess forget it weeks and months and I think over a year or two went by and that was what she was told now it turns out that he worked out of his apartment he worked at home even before Corona when people did that and he would get lonely and bored so every now and then other people got to go to the coffee room or the water cooler to see another human being he would walk out and she was with the door man for a few minutes nothing wrong with that a very gregarious very friendly guy so it turns out that after a significant period of time he asked her out and now they're happily married with kids living in our community and she has such strong feelings of the friend who put this first impression in her mind weirdo that's all it took weirdo so because of that she didn't go out with him and she delayed when she could have married him because they were meant to be and they could have been married so much earlier all because the friend put that first impression that's how dangerous it is in sh someone asks you top stop pause think consider someone says oh you know my niece is going out with somebody from your community the family don't just say the first word that comes to your mind don't just say your last interaction with them don't just say because that first impression whatever you're going to say at first it's powerful it's going to plant itself embed itself UE itself and now it becomes the the roote that has to be overturned and it's hard very hard you can negatively in business somebody asks you your impression so sasham knew that and he was trying to use that to his favor that yes on the one hand it was in Sim's own interest to refer ysf why would that help to refer yose he'd solve power's problem he's got a guy but he doesn't want that guy to outshine him he wants to be the solution to parro but he doesn't want to be overshadowed by Yosef so he plants the first impression and what does he say weirdo he's a great guy for interpreting dreams but don't get in the ideas par because total weirdo Jewish weirdo don't give him any position but you see from here the power of a first impression what SIM was trying to take advantage of and that's why rash calls the cursed are the wicked because we read the text and at first it seems he's doing a great for ysf wow he remembered Yosef two years later he remembered him he referred him he got him out of his predicament he got him out of jail blessed you think he's such a kindhearted doing this wonderful thing fora even in the middle of doing something that could have helped yose he still tried to hurt him he still tried to give a negative first impression he said you know what the result of trying to position myself is finding favor with par means I have to refer for this Jew but at least let me try to knock him down a few steps while I refer him in the end it didn't work why because Yosef was so impressive that he overcame that first impression that's what happened with my friends here in our community when that girl finally gave that guy a shot he's so wonderful that she knew early on this is who she wanted to marry but you got to get that shot you got to overcome that first weirdo impression you got to overcome it not only does replace and uproot that first impression he does so in such a potent strong way that par says wow not only is he not a weirdo have you ever seen such a spiritual giant isn't he incredible isn't later we said they went and they summoned him to the pit and they says in his new safer that we've also been going through the in speaking about the greatness of says it says that y y faced overwhelming incomprehensible pressure seduction of the wife of potifar and he had nothing to lose he was abandoned sold by his brothers disconnected from his family had no reputation to protect he had nothing to lose lonely handsome and this woman won't leave him alone every day every day she would she would proposition him constantly changing constantly seducing constantly propositioning and what did he say over and over again it was last week's par with the shus on top shus the Trap threefold is and yob he wanted to remain part of this chain part of the shalis so he found the wherewithal he found the courage he found the strength he found the discipline if you didn't go to hear our mental health speaker last week she spoke about the space between the impulse the urge and the action how can we be just because we feel one way we want to react certain way we want to indulge a certain thing we don't have to there's a space we're going to send out the video of her talk if you haven't listened you should Y is he wants to be part of the chain of our and so he finds the strength to refuse for her Relentless seduction so what does what do say she says if you don't give in you're gonna end up in prison he says that's okay is Hashem releases those from prison she says I'm going to have you beaten he he says that's okay hasem allows those who are bent over and beaten up to stand straight I'm going to Blind your eyes he says I'm good God gives sight to the blind she said I'll give you all the wealth and riches in the world just give in indulge that's the end of the gamar the end of the Gar so you see from the of is you have all this good in the world that hm is the one y y it was every day that she was trying to seduce him and proposition him and so on y stood strong and overcame it and with all the nas what what happened afterwards despite it all where does he end up if you're Yosef sitting in prison you say to yourself seriously Hashem like seriously I would understand I did the wrong thing I indulged I slept with this married woman I forfeited my soul spirituality my righteousness the legacy of my forefathers I got it so mid mid I got what I deserve I'm sitting languishing in a dark damp prison I got it but I did the right thing I did a superhuman thing and this is the result this is the conclusion this is where I end up it's not just that he wasn't rewarded with great reward instead he seems to be punished with such a harsh punishment it seems entirely unfair and unjust it seems absolutely terrible impossible to understand and RR develops a beautiful powerful difficult Insight he says even though it seems that he was in a place of Darkness if you would freeze the frame of his life if you'd press pause in the story of yosef's life as he's sitting languishing in the dark prison he would say why me so unfair so unjust so dark so hopeless so hopeless so terrible however if you PR not play if you were to press fast forward skip a couple chapters if you understood the chain of events that would get started by his being in the prison had he remained in the home of potifar he would have done well could have left nicely CFO of potifar Industries he could have done nicely but he never would have been the vice Roy of Egypt he never would have saved the economy never would have reunited with his father and his brothers never would have brought the Jewish people down to its Destiny in Egypt none of that would have happened he would have made a good living been the CFO and who knows he needed to go into the this pit where he would meet the S and Sim where he would be referred to parro where he'd become the Viceroy where he'd save the economy where his brothers would come down where he'd be reunited with his father if we freeze the frame of Our Lives sometimes when we press pause it seems helpless and hopeless and we wonder why me but if only we had that crystal ball if only we had the remote control to fast forward a few scenes later we could or would understand that nothing is random or chance everything is by Design everything is carefully curated and choreographed from above it's all by Design it's all from Theon and that's the says sometimes the sky seems like it's covered in clouds there's black clouds can't see the heavens I don't see Hashem there's black clouds Hashem why are you treating me this way why is there such a barrier why is there such a distance between us these dark clouds hang over our head but but then we understand that those clouds they're holding the rain that will nourish the ground that will produce what we need in order to live and to be sustained sometimes we stop and only look at the clouds without realizing the clouds carry within them the water that will irrigate and nourish that will produce what we need in order to be able to in order to be able to live and this isodi says we find it with of sometimes with feels like Darkness being in a dark place is actually filled with light that darkness is the beginning of the spark of light just like Yosef sitting in the dark prison thought it was over but that dark prison was all part of how the light could begin if y are given the choice you want to stay in the home of potifar or here's how the story ends go into the prison you're going to go into dark as a beginning of light undoubtedly he would have chosen to go there there's no such thing as having no Darkness what feels like and seems like darkness is often the beginning of light and it's simply a part of life and it cannot be avoided it cannot be avoided yoseph was in this lowly Place yeah let's skip this one because there's a lot more okay skip two Turn the Page 226 again we all know the story parro recites The Dream Yosef successfully interprets it parro rewards and elevates he concludes the interpretation with the advice as we mentioned earlier you need to find an you need a Discerning and wise man to oversee the land oversee the land and here's how you preserve and save your economy during the fat years the years of plenty save put aside and then the food that you save will sustain you and get you through wow says wow what an interpretation what advice what a strategy incredible he turns to his cabinet no what do you say they pretty bril not better than what we could come up with we are in we love it the mein says the me again why was this so brilliant why do you need to be you just need somebody who knows how to save for a rainy day how brilliant you have to be you have to be the chief Economist of the world you have to be the most brilliant Financial mind in the world you have to be to know put some money aside in case the air conditioner breaks save some money when the roof leaks how brilliant they have to be in know to do that says of the wise person doesn't see the future they know but if you'd say that the wise person knows the future it's not only the wise person everybody can so therefore it's specifically phrased it the way they did why everybody knows that if you don't prepare for chabas you'll have nothing to eat on chabas use that l right if you're notas you have nothing to eat in shabas so how brilliant have to be to know you got to shop and cook to have food to eat in chabas otherwise you're going to sit there hungry the answer is that the fool also knows it but they don't do anything about it we know that seeing is believing seeing is greater than knowing so the doesn't just know the future the sees the future in the present they see as they eat the thing they shouldn't eat eat they see their next lab report they see the cholesterol and the A1C they see the next blood pressure monitor what it tells them meaning the teish the fool says I know if I eat the wrong things it's going to be bad for me I know it and then they eat it the wise person sees that food and sees sees the lab sees their clothing not fitting sees their life being shorter sees the sabotage to their own health that they're doing you have the same thing in in stock trading some people they don't want to cut their loss you know what do they say uh pigs get slaughtered you'll never buy on the low and sell at the high it never happens never happens so who does well in the stock market those who aren't greedy those who understand stop orders and limit orders and they sell before it truly dips or plummets ysf yosef's suggestion of the power was it's not enough to find some average person who knows in seven years there's going to be a famine seven years is going to be plenty seven years going to be a famine you could get some pedestrian person and say if seven years is going to going to be plenty and seven years is going to be a famine what should we do and what will that person answer what should you do save but what's going to happen six weeks or six months later they're going to say okay we're supposed to save yeah but I just want this car still plenty of time to save we could save later there's plenty to save we don't have to save that much maybe maybe the family won't be that bad in order to actually save you can't just be Yad you can't just know the future you have to be it has to be so real for you that you see it before your very eyes because seeing is believing so if you see again this goes back to if you see your future self in the present see your future self by the way you have that ability to do it now one of the Articles we shared in the shabash Rasha was technology that's out now you put in a picture of yourself and you ask it to see what you'll look like 10 20 30 50 years whatever your particular Horizon might be you can see what you're going to look like in the future and you know what they found that people who've seen what they look like in the future and make better decisions in the present you don't feel like you're going to live forever you know that the choices you make now are going to impact that future you what you're going to look like how you're going to live what your health will be if you see your future you live a better present and that's why it's not Yoda it's Roa learn how in the present to see the future live in the present while seeing the future not just knowing the future so that's why y says to you need an anyone could know the future but to see the future to live in the present while seeing the future that you need a and Par says you're my man you're my man one more power turns to have you ever seen such a spiritual giant wow it's not just that he's a brilliant Economist spiritual giant the Egyptians ofin were idolators they engaged in sorcery this is y's one shot to leave the jail this is a shot to save himself he's languishing dying in prison he's got an audience with the King this is it this is it so what does he do I'll tell you what I would have done I would have quickly gone to the jail computer and Googled how do you talk like an Egyptian what do they believe what's their slang what do they care about and then I would have learned their phrases their beliefs their ideology and I would have practiced what do I need to say to get myself out of here does Yosef do that points out the Meg Yosef absolutely not he does the opposite he does the opposite instead of going and invoking or instead of at least you know if I were y maybe I'd put on a baseball cap take off my yamaka I wouldn't say sure I'll have the D of Coke but I need to make a br loud who you y does the opposite not only does he not blend in use their language or vernacular or vocabulary invoke their idolatry and ideology not only does he not do any of those things which strategically would have made much more sense not only does he not do that he in fact flaunts and throws in their face who he is his language his ideology and philosophy starts talking about Hashem and God and bad it's not me and how does parro react here the people he hates the people he rejects yosef's one of them and he's using their language and he's wearing a big yamaka and his tias are flapping and yet what's parro's reaction isim here's a man of God starts out by meeting this Jewish slave who is in prison who successfully interprets a gene and then a moment later he's now the Viceroy second to the king he gives him more power and more trust than a king gets how does it all happen according to the how did it all happen a I want to tell you I find this so powerful particularly for today wrote me he's alive and well but he wrote me many years ago several years ago so not during this war but he's reminding us when we stand tall and proud as Jews when we don't hide our identity while we don't cower apologize or our defensive we're proud and practicing who we are Hashem then the heart of a king is in the hand of Hashem Hashem is deciding what happens next Who's in charge who gives us support who gives us cover we have to do our we do our effort but it's all in the hands of Hashem yose wasn't worried about what strategically made the most sense Yosef didn't go Lobby and Advocate take off his yam put on a baseball cap not say hashem's name he was not defensive he was not apologetic he had pride pride Jewish Pride Jewish practice and that's you want the respect of others you want presidents and prime ministers dignitaries and diplomats to respect you then respect yourself hold your head high with pride and with Jewish practice and then others will respect us and honor us when do they disrespect us when we disrespect ourselves that's why it's so terrible every time a prominent Jew and elected Jew a celebrity Jew is on the wrong side of this issue every time they're apologizing for being Jewish or they're cheering for the wrong side or they're focused on the wrong things or calling for a ceasefire it so sets us back because our enemies thrive on that that fuels them when we stand tall and proud and practice then is in charge after that we do all that we can we prepare as we spoke about a few weeks ago the three ways that yob prepared but we don't have to hide and we don't have to apologize and we don't have to be afraid and we don't have to be afraid okay we have to be afraid afraid of his running out of time okay I'll do one more 20 more we got a few from from but we'll do one one more from Skip Skip Skip Skip Skip Skip what happened right the brothers have been coming down Yos recognizes them they don't recognize himas translates He makes himself unrecognizable to them why is that important that unus it's not passively it's not that yose you know matured grew up grew a beard looks different so they don't recognize him it's not just a technical thing he makes himself unrecognizable to them because the brotherly Instinct and love and connection Yosef proactively change so he's unrecognizable fine he feeds them but he holds one hostage and he sends them back with their money it says they have to come back with their youngest brother then they go back and have this dialogue with yov and the Torah tells us the famine was very severe in the land when they had finished eating the provisions which they had brought from Egypt their father said go back and get us more food can't come back without your youngest brother don't come back again we have this dialogue going on skip the so what happens notice we spoke about two shabas ago yob and is one is when is is notice all of a sudden we shift to is their father is says their father says if it must be so if you have to take the youngest Back and You're personally guaranteeing then do this take up the land's glory in your bag bring it down to the man as a tribute little bolsom a little honey wax Lotus pistachios almond take with you double the money the money that was returned bring back maybe it was an oversight take your brother but you better bring him back that's what yov named here as is tells them says rash it's so take with you so what does yov say take a little of this a little of that a little the other thing go order on Amazon a bunch of gifts go bring back the money he accused you of taking some extra money on top of that and says rash now you're not missing anything all you're missing is one thing what are you missing says Rashi all you're missing is a little daving and that I will give you says yov all you're missing is daving I'll DAV for you says says when we think we've done everything we've prepared we bought we made the effort we took the initiative there's still one more thing that's necessary if we're going to have success and that is daving after yakob tells his sons he gives him specific effort initiative they have to engage buy this bring him that do this say that don't do that he adds on one more thing all theas only works with you have to DAV you have to DAV this is a powerful message of saes he points out all of Braes from the beginning to the end is built on this created but until man daved the rain didn't Begin to Fall we know that hm created the whole world including the ecosystem of the clouds and condensation but the ground didn't produce the rain didn't fall and nourish it why there wasn't man yet why do you need man because until someone's ready to DAV you don't press go you don't press startu promised him that would come but until he DAV s didn't get pregnant until he daved mikash all the until they daved they didn't conceive until we everything every time that we were in a hard place a crisis everything that we've ever wanted to do accomplish in our lives every success we've ever s there's the initiative there's the effort but what is the core key ingredient you have to Davin Davin is the key that unlocks that Storehouse Hashem has so much good he wants to give us I've given this msh a billion times you could win the lottery but if you turn the ticket until you turn the ticket and you can't get the money even though you're entitled to the money you've got the winning numbers you won the lottery you're entitled to it why does it magically just transfer to your bank account because until you turn the ticket you don't get the money the ticket is hasem says I have such waiting for you I have such beautiful things waiting for you but the way you access it the way you get it the way that you open that lock the way that that begins to flow is you have to DAV you have to DAV so here all the ingredients such a beautiful rash it's a simple rash you're not missing anything all you're missing so I will DAV for you we have to take our initiative we have to make our effort we have to do everything that's in our power and our hands but we have to also remember to DAV RBA writes that about parents parents have such responsibility towards their children protect them and raise them and educate them provide for them but don't forget to Davin for them the reason the co go ended in ended up in the ear mlot uh the kodal rather the people in the ear mlot their lifespan or their time in the ear nich was tied to the life of the co because Theos the co was meant to D for his generation and if there were accidents that happened it's because he didn't D hard enough for them Raa extrapolates from there a parent core job and responsibility a grandparent core job and responsibility is to Davin for their children and grandchildren we put him through school and we educate we get him the best doctor and the best trainer and the best this and the best that but but if you forget to Davin it doesn't work it doesn't work you got to Davin in my sitter I have a little card I have all the names my parents my in-laws my children my grandchildren every every day you can't stop you have to DAV with all the effort imagine you build something it's Kana you got gifts my house we got this going on you give gifts and then what is it batteries not included so you got to find the tiny little screwdriver to open the tiny little screw of the tiny little case to insert the batteries so here you have the box you took the thing apart you assembled the toy there were a million pieces there were instructions in 14 languages none of which you could understand or read and you figured out you assembled the whole Toy but it won't turn on why you put in the effort you took all the initiative you put all the pieces together but it won't turn on why won't it turn on what's it missing the batteries the batteries of life is is ding you could assemble all the parts you could take all the initiative you could put it all together but until you DAV you can't find ESS so we DAV we DAV we DAV that the efforts and the initiative of Our Heroes should all work should be effective they should come home they should bring home all who need to come home please stay for a few minutes we'll complete all of saer together