The Lord Delighted in You Because You Were the Smallest of All with Rabbi Aaron Dovid Poston

[Music] Shalom Alim everybody welcome this is the mid it's not the mid but welcome home to Torah a warm welcome we extend a very very warm welcome to everyone who's joined us I encourage you all to learn Hebrew and how do we do that by following along along the Hebrew sheets there's a link below in the description box where you could locate the paral sheet for this week we're going to be dealing with uh Genesis 48: 15 and 16 now before we begin it's the end of the fiscal year if those who want to contribute to all the great programming that y does here's your opportunity there's also a link below and of course as you know we're doing tittis and to fill in right we're doing such great um uh volunteer work making the Titus here but also we have a collection for our soldiers so that we can distribute to filling which is a little bit more expensive than the tius but you can participate okay so let's go we're going to begin and we're using the CLE yakar as the basis for our discussion notice in chapter 48:15 we'll start with the English and we'll go to the Hebrew let me just turn off my sound here there we go this is um yakov's blessing to ysep and he blessed ysep and said now just notice the word God Appears twice God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked God who sustained me as long as I alive until this day so in that verse Elohim is used twice VI and then Elohim har May May okay so the first thing the kar points out is I'm sorry what yov himself is doing he's not putting himself into the category right with his forefathers Abraham and Isaac AB the because if he wanted to What could have said he could have said I and my forefathers walked before God but he says they walk before God he does not include himself why is that he did not want to include himself in this category of being a completely righteous person this is what I mean we all have to know this right we have to not consider ourselves as righteous completely righteous maybe as Bon as intermediate type people because there's always Improvement if we're still in this world that means there's work to be done on our own character even if we have really worked very hard especially on on our humility then we will really know not to put ourselves in this category of a of completely righteous um but there's more to it than that only those who are completely righteous would consider themselves as walking before God we walk with God and when you walk with God God is your support there's um the 12ep programs they have this uh um this story about you know a person who had very rough times in their life and they always looked back and they said to themselves you know when I was exper experiencing life I always noticed there were two Footprints in the Sand but when I experienced great difficulties I only noticed there were one footprints in the sand god why did you abandon me and the answer that God responds with I did not abandon you son I carried you right the idea of carrying somehow carrying when you are not atak atak is someone who's completely righteous is basically not just a leader I mean he's in front of or she is in front of Hashem uh blazing a path where as the rest of us we're walking with God hopefully and as the clear car says it's as if you need support you need the aid to be supported this is not an original idea Noah himself it says that Noah walked with God so he was not as great as Abraham according to the opinion of course there's mlus was he equal to or less than Abraham and the answer according to this understanding of the verse was he was less a less uh less degree less status in terms of being a sadak gar okay so now we're going to enter the second paragraph I mentioned when we read the verse notice that it mentions God twice he says so twice God's name is mentioned now we didn't read the second verse but verse 16 says may the angel who redeemed me from all harm bless the youths these youths being remember yakob is blessing ysep and he's blessing his children as well uh a and Minasha may they and may they be called by my name and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac and may they multiply abundantly like fish in the midst of the land the Hebrew is a very beautiful I won't torture anybody by singing it although I might [Music] [Applause] try [Music] that's as much torture I will give anybody the rest of the vers is okay so this is a very famous verse we're all familiar with the clear mentions that God's name is mentioned twice right in verse 15 and one time the angel is mentioned why is that okay so he says which means like this the first two times that God's name that was mentioned it was appropriate that only God would be the one who you walk before yeah I don't think we have anything to do with that I don't think it's something to do with locking up one of the offices and it goes off there you go um so the first two times God's name is mentioned it it's it wouldn't be befitting to talk about going before any other being it's only God okay the concept of walking before God is equivalent to service of God it's Aus it's aod just like the the anus translates so is has to do with a V but we're talking about a religious sort of VOD here now there's a verse in our verse 15 it actually says God who has sustained me as long as I am alive Elohim root R is pastoring is like the shepherd is pastoring so it's it's basically feeding sustaining me May o while I am While I'm Alive so it's Hashem what is that referring to parosa Hashem is the soul Giver s o l e Giver H we have a it's in the medish it says there are four keys there are four four keys that were given over sorry that were not given over to any other Angel so God has given authority to many angels to do different things but when come when it comes to parasa to the welfare to the sustainability the the food intake and the shelter everything that you need he is the sole responsibility so it says parasu was never given over to any other authority and wait till you hear this so this is a little bit bit on the mystical side we're going to deal with grias butu the way the mathematicians explain it so it says may o just look at the verse again while I'm still alive right God is the one who sustain me as long as I'm alive remember it goes on to say until this day just hold off on until this day so God is the one who sustained me me the gatria of Mo is K K so yov was supported by God for 130 years and you might think that as soon as he went down to Egypt for the next 17 years who supported him yep no Watch what it says here it's true that 130 years which means as we said while I'm um as long as I was alive that God supported me uh those 130 years before I went down to Egypt cuz when how old was he when he went to Egypt he it says in the in the verse he was 130 years old that's what he answered Pharaoh when Pharaoh says you don't look too good you look a little bit old how old are you he tells them 130 now what about the words the word is a gatri of 17 so the cleard is saying that refers to the 17 years that he lived in MIT as the verse also says in our the first verse in our week our weeks paraa that he lived in Egypt for 17 years so what does he mean to say when he says that and this is the way the clear understands it even though it appears as though it was ysep that was giving me parasa meaning sustaining My Lifestyle with shelter and food and everything else guess what he's actually saying no it's the same God the same entity that sustained me for the 130 years before I came to Egypt was the same God that that sustained me during those other 17 years K just as all of the sustainability came from Hashem for the first 130 years to the following 17 years now just think about this a second it says this is just a side point I spoke about in other classes and by the way I should have mentioned the other classes on this this week's para there are links Down Below in the um in the description box it says the what's the gatri of the is simply 34 okay V okay 34 17 years he really lived when did Yakov really live during the 17 years from yosef's birth until ysf was taken away and disappeared and when was he um on his game so to speak that last 17 years when he was in Egypt when he realized yoseph was alive so the 34 years that he really lived is hinted at inov let's go on so we dealt with verse 15 elim is used twice but when it comes to mik guarding from anything negative and bad and evil sh that was performed or done through an Angelic Force as the verse actually says the verse says an angel who Redeem Me from all harm it's like very similar to the statements we make on Friday night but the constantly the angels that's what they do that's what they do they're commanded to guard in all of our ways and activities okay now we're moving on to the clear's explanation of verse 16i right they will be called meaning and Asha will be called by my name and by the name of my fathers it's it's amazing what does that mean that they will be called right you going to refer to them all that reflects upon me basically as a Jew as an Israelite as the father of the Jewish Nation Yakov is these these progyny these grandchildren are going to carry on they're going to carry on the legacy of our forefathers and each name represents something Israel the actual name of Israel so we know the verse now the word can mean so many different things first of all the letters so we have y and yov under the yud the shin is SAR the r is RA Rifka Al is Abraham L is Le like all the IM and aot are included in the name but yes we go straight to God no intermediaries not no intermediates right and I understand I I understand for a non-jew it's a they're looking they're looking for an anchor to hold on but they could accept the god of Israel as their true God and not deal with any intermediaries okay so the name of Israel the word so Sara her name was Sara because she was a princess right Isa but SAR is like even today it's used in modern you know for officer or a a minister right it's a high level official so the way that this is from kabad on chapter it's number five on the store sheet at chapter 32 of um chapter 32 of Genesis verse 29 it says and he said meaning the angel Hashem said through the angel your name shall no longer be called yako but Israel why because you have commanded power I never saw that translation before I always thought because you contended you fought with an angel of God and with men and you have been been Victorious commanded power is a great translation for this Sarita you right this is what the Jewish people this is what Yakov represents and this is what's going to or is represents and this is going to descend into his preny into US commanding power I just love that translation um [Applause] and that I'm sorry and that's what will be meaning for the children especially of manash neim as we could see in 2 Samuel 23:3 that's number six on the short sore sheet the god of Israel said concerning me spoke the rock of Israel a ruler over men shall be the righteous man he that rules in the fear of God so there's this in Hebrew right Mo the one who truly fears God is basically a ruler over men commanding power and again it's not just the Jew it's any human being on the place on the face of this Earth who has accepted aash a direct connection with the god of Israel the the the true God who created the universe there's only one God and then the name Yakov shame AEV AEV does mean the heel it can also mean crooked but here the clear says ra so I think he means in terms of the the the the heel is usually that part which is hidden or protected by our shoes it's something that's hidden protected this refers to the Great reward that is hidden the word that's hidden that's reserved uh for the truly righteous people now for all you truly righteous people out there you know what happens to us it begins with a lot of pains lot of Tri trials tribulations we say all Beginnings are difficult so it's constantly that the beginnings are mitz are are pained but guess what happens at the end is a there's a high achievement high achievement right they say no pain no gain right and then you could just put that into Isaiah 53 the suffering servant okay what about the name Abraham remember the Vash right the names of my forefathers are going to be placed on you the name of Abraham Al which means the father of many nations do we have that here number seven right and your name shall no longer be called aam but your name shall be Abraham for I made you a father of a multitude of Nations ofon okay AB would be the chief of all the nations what about y y can mean we it means many things right to laugh but specifically in taranis on chapter 17:1 17 if you look at number eight right abrah fell on his face and it says and he rejoiced that's what it says how do we know it means rejoiced it says in Hebrew it means he laughed but it's the anus explains is a language of rejoicing as you can see in Rashi right there on number eight it says that Uncle renders this an expression has rejoiced so this is the blessing that Yakov is giving over to his grandchildren his ysep and his children that eventually the shame of oai shall descend upon his progeny the CLE card then goes on to the latter part of the verse okay and they will multiply like fish how do we translate it over here and may they multiply abundantly like fish in the midst of the land now why does it say in the midst of the land the clear says you know it would have been more appropriate if the Torah says on the land in the land even but one word as as opposed to be Hearts be is like inside the land so so he asked mAh what does it mean then it seems like we can explain the way the gamorra says over there if you look at number nine for those we spoke about this a few weeks ago once the Egyptians would notice remember they put a ban on having uh male baby male Jewish babies live right they weren't interested in male Jewish babies because they were afraid that one might be the Messiah Moses the Redeemer so they would come and kill them but a miracle would occur for them and they would be absorbed by the Earth the Egyptians would then right the the the ground itself would cover over the babies and keep them alive miraculously of course but the Egyptians were not satisfied they would bring bring oxen and plow upon them as it says in Psalms 1293 the plowers plowed upon my back okay they made long their pharohs now after the Egyptians would leave what would happen the babies would emerge and exit the ground like grass of the field meaning proliferate as it says in Ezekiel 167 I cause you to increase even as the growth of the field now once the babies would grow grow meaning weaned they would come back to their homes H like many flocks I mean we have this tradition that the women gave birth to six at a time you're looking at me like that that's uh it's already miraculous that uh you know the whole story here okay so let's just stop there for a second in terms of the gor what is the clear trying to say that the Egyptians would plow on their backs meaning the ground would absorb them and they would come back and try to kill them make sure they're dead of course this miracle occur the ground had absorbed them and afterwards they would increase like eggs adim they would come back like flocks flocks like lots here the words that because of this they would actually increase within the land Mish meaning actually within the ground under the surface it was not for not that this miracle occurred that the miracle that they were absor abbed in the ground what do we know about ysep and this fish right this idea is that the you're in a different dimension and the eye of the Seer cannot give you an eye in harah a evil eye now what exactly is the evil eye I'll discuss it on a very simple level it's usually caused by jealousy it um people who are let's say extremely charismatic or can be uh uh overly um public about certain things right so then it can create that jealousy or someone to put their eye on you and it is true in h we call this heesa there's a concept that you know you have a fence around your neighbor's house you shouldn't like stand on your tippo when you walk by to try to see what what new gadgets they got right it's um remember the 10th commandment right we all have we all know the Ten Commandments but what's the last one don't cover it right so I know if it's jealousy or some negative feeling within the person because you could be totally innocent and be very modest and yet the other person who has the evil eye on you it's their sickness um the way to fight the evil eye is to be generous and to be loving and to be kind and not let it affect you okay so basically that's what the evil eye is on a very simplistic level so when you're when these children when these babies were absorbed in the the ground similarly the idea that the schools of fish they proliferate they you can't even count them you ever see all those fish on National Geographic it's like in a second they all turn different way I mean like like like flocks of birds I mean they have some kind of um quick reflex and Instinct okay but there's so many of them how you ever going to count them right it's hard enough trying to count a minion like guys sit down got 10 I got I gotta make sure there's 10 of you I'm counting kods or I'm counting seats but in the meantime you keep walking around I'm never going to know if we have a minion or not so the way to count is basically to if something is still anyway so we all know that the fish are under the surface and therefore there is no evil eye on them so too over here these babies were swallowed by the ground and they were covered and the clear card says sh so these evil Egyptians with their evil eye would not be able to harm or affect these Jewish babies therefore the ground cover them up just as the way fish are covered by water they're in a different dimension and the eye has no schita does not have any uh ability to control or damage the the things under the water and the Very fact that they were within the ground remember the question we asked was why did it say why didn't just say because Kim because that allowed the miracle now was the miracle because there was no evil eye and therefore the natural result would be to proliferate I don't have an answer but I think it's combination there of Not only was there a miracle on its own but it could be in combination with the fact that it was covered so my experience and my suggestion is to walk modestly with your God don't be a showof right and that should help protect you even in a non-miraculous way but of right we don't rely on Miracles so try to be modest right the the answer is that there would not be an in har and that's why it says in Exodus 1 verse 7 do I have that here number 10 on the sore sheet the children of Israel were fruitful and swarmed and increased and became very strong very very strong and it says and the land became filled with them see it answers up I understand right the B Isel wasu they they increased they right they were fruitful but most important with the land became filled with them and that answers our question why it says um not just but okay so we'll Turn the Page and um Israel asked a very good question I think this help answer it even more even further right out of all the sons that Yakov gave blessings to ysep received the blessing that had to do with REO multiplicity increasing his name ysep what does ysep mean if not increase his very name is reflecting on this idea of addition and increasing commotion AMR like it says in chapter 30:24 if you go to number 11 on thei when Rael named when Rael named ysep she so she named him ysep now the Rashi explain she had she Hades actually they all did Leia knew they were going to be 12 sons and when she got Yehuda she said wow I I I I got more than I deserve he was the fourth son she just assumed that each mother would receive the equal amount mean she got way more than anybody else but by the fourth son right if you have 12 sons divided by four mothers each one gets three so she said on the fourth one Yehuda and that's what that's what a Jew is a Jew is someone who walks with gratitude we make a 100 blessings a day every time you turn around right we're always thinking that everything we receive is straight and directly from hasem so anyway so that was Leia's understanding ra also knew there were going to be 12 and she got one well guess what there's going to be one more it better come from me that's basically what she was praying for so she says so she named him Yos saying may the Lord grant me yet another son y Hashem Le it's not even right I'll read the whole why did she call him ysep saying y they should be added to me another son that's what the word ysep that's what the name ysep implies then just like it says in Deuteronomy chap 1 verse 11 you'll see this number 12 on the sore sheet may the Lord grant your forefathers may the Lord God of your forefathers add to you a thousandfold as many as you are so the CLE car [Applause] explains keeping in mind we have this great dilemma manasha is the firstborn and yet Yakov puts his right hand on ephan the second born so why would ephan be was we already spoke about ysep but then what about aim why is aim what do you think the root of aim is look in chapter 41: 52 and the second one he named the frme for God has made me fruitful with from the word pre he Elohim per is fruitful so so he named him a basically so that was to be carried on that's why Yakov wanted to bless Ephraim more we'll see why Alo I skipped something noo Al this is why Yakov put his right hand on a fryan Yakov what was Yakov thinking shim that his very name which not his Essence but his name which means a in this world a certain kind of purpose what from the very name he thought he was more fitting to receive such a blessing because his name implies um produ uh infertility so too uh he should get the blessing of fertility the Y now Yos on the you know he's standing by and watching his father cross the arms she so what was ysep thinking well he's thinking the firstborn he should get the special blessing as we know in the that the firstborn receives in terms of inheritance a double amount so he thinking in that sense he should he should get the Braha for increase because he's going to get as a firstborn an increased inheritance more than the other brother so therefore he thought the blessing of increase is more appropriate to uh the firstborn manasha but what is Yakov answer the Yakov now look in verse number 14 it's Genesis 48: 19 his father refused meaning yakob refused and he said to back to yoseph I know my son I know I know my son I know and the clear card is going to point out why does it say I know twice he too will become a people he too will be great but the meaning about manasha but the younger one Ephraim Ephraim will be greater the younger brother will be greater now this is very very important what he's saying here much more than we just we just reading it wait till you hear what the CLE car understands when he says the younger brother will be greater than he and his children's Fame will fill the Nations so the clear says after the we just read I know my son I know the clear points out it says twice I know why because the does get twice the amount so he's talking about Masa that yes you're right he would get twice the but then again it says meaning Masha also Masha will be the and he's also going to be great but he's not going to be greater than the younger brother It also says G twice to refer to what to remind you to hint to the idea that the firstborn will get double don't worry the firstborn will get double as if he was saying I know all about the double portion that the the firstborn is going to get and there before you might have thought right that's why you would have thought that that's even more reason why it's more fitting for him to get that um that special blessing of to somehow combin these ideas together but but a big but nevertheless drum roll please this is where the drum roll comes in men the younger brother will or it says the smaller brother I shouldn't say younger that's how we translate it we that's how we understand it the younger brother will be greater than him now ready as I said drum roll this is like the you walk away from this class understanding that that Hashem chooses the smaller or the you know not younger but small smaller when you make yourself small any person who accepts upon himself his smallness if I can translate that way then is more likely to raise that person up to the heights of tens of thousands just just like it says in Deuteronomy 77 that's number 15 on the swore sheet God is choosing the Jewish people not because you are more numerous than any of the people did the Lord Delight in you and choose you for you are the least so God chose us because we're small in number I just want to make mention right if we are supposed to be the light unto the Nations I mean they sell now you you know million candl like flashlights you would think you know but the truth is when you have a dark room and just one little candle that one little candle makes a bigger difference than if you were like outside and lit that million Candlelight flashlight would make no difference so we're in a dark world right the the world really is you know we're wait we're maneuvering through this world but we are the light to Nations and God choose us because we're small if we were the size of the Chinese what's the big deal the very know what the big deal is that we're only 15 million out of you know eight plus billion people and we're on the front page of every newspaper and we're getting you know um we're making a Mark we're making a mark and bizat right for the good in other words a greater you understand the point here a greater difference is made by the fact that we're smaller as opposed to if we were 1.3 billion like whether we're Indians or Chinese of course they're making a difference because there are so many of them but no we're making a difference in in spite of the fact that we're we're small or because we're small I mean how do you read the verse not because you are more numerous than other any other people that the Lord Delight you and chose you for you are the least and the CLE continues to explain we just read the Hebrew of that verse it's not because you're so great and in terms of numbers that God desires you but rather because you are H and it says in Isaiah 60: 22 it says over there the what the small shall become a thousand and the least a mighty nation I am the Lord it is in its time I will hasten it by the way this is a very clear reference to the Messianic age the last two words is this is not a class on the Messiah but beo means by the year 6000 in its time and means herly there's always a recalculation you know when you use your ways or your uh Google Maps and you don't follow the instructions or whatever they they're not always so clear anyway so you go through the circle and it says take the third exit on the circle and you have no idea what he's talking about by the time you you're already dizzy in the circle what's the third exit Okay anyway so it recalculates and that's what Hashem is constantly doing because we have free will we have free will and he knows the end game and the end game we're going to end there we're going to end up there no matter what and it's going to be great whether it happens quicker or whether it happens sooner uh sorry uh later either way it's going to happen so the last thing he mentions based on this verse he said the smaller one will become thousands and the younger will be a very strong Nation this is what all the seed of Abram was called but remember and I'm just say it real quickly we spoke about the younger being chosen over the older yesmail was the firstborn he was rejected invalidated asov was the firstborn he was rejected he was invalidated Ruan was the first born he lost that status manasha he was also the firstborn and he was also rejected in this sense so this idea that when we think about all this different seat of Abraham Abraham yes true is was the first for to abrah is was put aside considered um pule and was chosen we know that asav was firstborn over y nevertheless n as I'm sorry that asav was was the first of Y and uh guess what n as asav was pushed aside the yov ruen the same thing he was the he was the first born of yov and ni Ru the Naros ultimately ysep becomes like the firstborn he he gets the double portion what does it mean he gets the double portion because he has two sons that are elevated to the status of tribes when we count the tribes we always say there's 12 tribes it really there's 13 there's really 13 so Ley I mean it's only 13 when you count in Asim and you count Ley and well put it this way whenever we count Mas we don't count ysep so whenever we count ysep without man then you add Ley okay so that's how you always end up with 12 H so the last thing he just mentions was that Mas was the of Y and out of that EP was chosen as the better um receiver of this braa hello he says this is a very unusual hint as we just discussed basically the enlightened ones will truly understand this idea and I hope that we can all walk away understanding that you know our ego gets in the way a lot I know I'm talking for myself right and life is much easier when you to keep your ego in check we have to make a every night before we go to sleep we have interpersonal relations we have relations between us and ourselves and us and God and other people andem with a proper um Torah education with learning the instruction manual that we will all improve our own lives individually and make the world a better place and with that I wish everyone aat [Music] shalom [Music] hold