What's Wrong with Settling Down? - Ari Abramowitz: The Land of Israel Fellowship

so the parsha begins the torah portion begins the yeshev and jacob settled let's open that that slide then and jacob settled in the land where his father sojourned in the land of canaan he settled on the land where his fathers adjourned in the land of canaan now you start off and if you don't know better you actually feel happy for yaakov because after all he's been through he could finally dwell in peace because he's been through a lot he survived asav and lavon and then aesop again he fought with an angel and uh he had a lifelong injury from the battle he uh endured the violation of his daughter dina and the war that almost happened with the people of kanaan and uh and you know he's he's now finally back in the land of his fathers and he just wants to settle down and build a family and raise them to walk in hashem's ways it really seems like he deserves a break but what was it meant to be because we see unfold in the torah portion itself by yaakov and yaakov settle down to dwell that's where the real trouble begins and that's actually what the great commentator rashi says on that verse he says that like this here's the slide no sooner had jacob sought to dwell in tranquility that the troubles of joseph sprang upon him the righteous seek to dwell in tranquility said the holy one blessed be he what is prepared for the righteous in the world to come is not sufficient for them that they seek also to dwell in tranquility in this world that's what rashi says that hashem is saying it's hard to read but it's true right seeking a break from trouble and seeking to avoid pain and difficulty that is a very human thing and it's not as if jacob was seeking to just have an easy life remember that jacob is the jacob who dwells in tents he studies the word right he spent 14 years in the yeshiva of shem and ever this is the spiritual jacob who just wanted a brief break a momentary respite respite right from all the pain and grief so he could just finally dedicate himself to spiritual pursuits he just wanted to study a little bit and pray a little bit and maybe start his own fellowship right he's back in the land maybe he'd call it the land of israel fellowship but but here's the problem with all of that at least the way i see it and this is just ari this is the way i see it when i wake up in the morning i pray to hashem hopefully if i'm blessed with this internal serenity and peace of mind i'm able to focus on what i'm saying from the beginning to the end and really pour out my heart dash chem and i speak hashem i speak directly to god but then i take my chillin off and i fold up my talit right my prayer shawl and i proceed with my day and i try to keep in mind that what happens to me throughout my day well that's hashem responding to me what people say to me is what hashem wants me to hear and whatever happens to me well that's what hashem wants me to experience that's his answer to me and it's not always what i want to experience the challenges presented to me are not always the ones i would choose for myself usually they're not but hashem knows the journey upon which he wants us to travel and he knows the fixing that we need to do for our souls far better than we do we don't understand that stuff and so he puts us in the situations that we need to be in which quite often are not the situations that we really want to be in because from my experience looking back on my life those challenges that happened to me not the ones i necessarily chose but the ones that happened to me well that's where the real true spiritual growth happens spiritual knowledge right yes that comes from torah study spiritual tools to contend with these challenges of life that comes from torah study but the actual spiritual growth well at least in my experience that most often comes from the pain and the tribulations and the adversity from all those things that we really want to avoid and uh and what this means to me is that god did not send the whole yosef disaster into yaakov's life in order to interrupt his tranquility he sent it to tell yakov that he wasn't done yet that he has more to accomplish in this world he he's not done yet he it's not yet time for him to rest so just the other day um dvas was in the car and she was having a meltdown these meltdowns are starting to happen i just think they're so cute but you know she can't always communicate that well but i can tell that she was uncomfortable and she was upset she was crying and her nose was running and her whole face was just busy and messy and and my heart just like really hurt for her and i started singing to her i was like i'm not supposed to sing but i was trying to sing to her and to calm her down and then i heard myself actually telling her to prepare herself that this is what life is about that we're not here in this world to be comfortable and lazy we're here to bring light and blessing and while that can be painful sometimes that's why hashem sent us here this is what i was telling my 22 month old but it's taken me 42 years to understand the degree that i understand it now so i just wanted to i just wanted to share it with her this highlight was taken from the land of israel fellowship every week hundreds of families from literally around the world come together on our live zoom sessions to strengthen each other to inspire each other and to learn torah from the land of israel in which we connect the dots between the bible the hebrew language and the confusing events of our times go to www.thelandofisral.com backslash fellowship or click on the link below to join thank you