DailyHalacha.com

Rabbi Mansour 09
Shabbat Morning class
???? ????
???? ?? ?????? ??? ??? ???? ???? ??? ???? ??? ???? ????? – When Yaakov saw the
wagons that Yosef sent, he was uplifted and believed Yosef was truly still alive. What is
so special about ????? (wagons), that convinced Yaakov that Yosef was still alive? The
last thing that Yaakov taught Yosef was the topic of ???? ????? , the calf that is brought
by the town closest to a dead body found out in the open. When Yaakov saw the ,????
he realized that this was a hint from Yosef that he still remembered the last thing that
they learned together. So Yaakov knew that Yosef was spiritually still alive, which is
obviously more important than anything else. So with this he was uplifted. On a deeper
level, these ????? represented something even more profound. If we analyze the story
that we read in Parashat Vayishlach about Yaakov crossing over the stream of ???
before he had the confrontation with the angel of Eisav, the Pesukim say: ????? ?? ????
??? ????? ?????? ?? ???? ????? ?? ??? ?? . Firstly, the Torah deems it necessary to let us
know the name of the stream ??? . Then, in the next Pasuk, it refers to it simply as ??? (a
stream). We also see several mentions of the word ????? - three times in total. Why is
this so? A simple reason is that most likely, Yaakov had to make several trips across the
stream in order to bring over all of his possessions; therefore it says ????? - he passed
over several times. On a deeper level, these Pesukim also hint to us a crucial lesson that
Yaakov was giving to his family. This was a time that Yaakov was running away from
Lavan and heading towards Eisav, it was like he was between two wars. It was a very
difficult time for Yaakov and his family, and it was a perfect time to teach them this
lesson. The lesson is that whatever a Jew is going through, no matter how difficult, he
has to know that it is all from Hashem and it really is very good for him. Rabbi Akivah
used to say ?? ??? ????? ????? ??? ???? - whatever Hashem does is for the good. Like it
says in Pirkei Avot ??? ??? ???? (literally: he used to say) we can also understand it to
mean ??? ??? - he was, then ???? -then he would say. First he would master the trait,
and then he would teach about it. So Rabbi Akivah mastered this concept and attitude
that whatever Hashem does is the best thing for him. As illustrated in the story about
when Rabbi Akivah went to a town and was denied lodging, so he was forced to spend
the night in a forest outside the town with only his donkey, rooster, and a lantern. A
lion came and ate his donkey, but Rabbi Akivah remained optimistic and said this is for
the good. Then a cat came and ate his rooster and a wind came and extinguished his
lantern, but he still remained positive and said "this too is for the good"! In the
morning when he awoke, he was told that the town he was trying to say in was
attacked by bandits and they killed everyone in the town. His donkey, rooster, or light
would have alerted the bandits of his presence, and he too would have been killed.
"You see" exclaimed Rabbi Akiva just like I said; everything Hashem does is for the best!
Rabbi Akivah was explaining, that it was precisely because he had this positive attitude
that things worked out good for him. The first letter of rooster, donkey, and lantern- , ??
????, ?????? spells out the word ??? like it says , ???? ????? ???? ?????? (literally; the
words of ????? are listened to when spoken gently) when you go with this attitude,
hinted by the word ??? that everything is for the good, then your words will be listened
to by Hashem and man. Optimism brings positive results and pessimism brings
negative results. We see this happen with people, when they know things are going to
be good, it actually does turn out good, and vice versa. How does this concept work?
When a person is going thru difficulty he is under the name of Hashem of Din, and that
is the name of ????? . This is why he is experiencing the difficulty, however if he "brings
in" the name of Hashem of Hesed, (the name of ... ?-? ) then he sweetens the judgment
by creating a combination of ... ????? & ? -? (as the Rabbi mentioned many times that
the combination of ... ?-? and ????? creates an even higher level of Hesed than the
name of Hesed-.. ?-? on its own). How do we ’’bring in’’ the name of... ? -? into the Din?
By saying that this is really good, and that Hashem loves me, and he is doing this
because it’s the best possible thing for me. We are showing that Hashem’s kindness is
also at work here. We "bring in" the name of Hashem of Hesed into the difficulty and
we create a tremendous level of Hesed, and things actually do work out very well for
us! But if a person ?'? says to himself how difficult things are,then he is right, he is only
dealing with the name of Hashem of Din and things remain difficult. Rabbi Akivah
learnt this from his Rebbe, ???? ??? ?? ?? - who always said: ?? ?? ????? -this too is for
the best. Who was the inventor of this concept? Yaakov Avinu. Rabbi Akivah was a ?????
of Yaakov Avinu, as is hinted in his name ??? ????? is the same letters as ???? ???? . So
he was the master of this optimistic attitude. Where is it alluded that Yaakov had this
trait? In this story, where he crossed his family over the stream. How so? The stream
was called ??? , the word ??? is numerically 112, and the numerical value of .. ?-? and
????? combined is 112 (26+86=112). So the Pasuk says ????? ?? ???? ??? - the word
????? also means to "give over" so this is one of the ways he gave over to his children
the lesson of bringing in the Hesed of Hashem during a time of Din, at this difficult
time for Yaakov and his family. This combination of ?' ????? that totals 112, is hinted to
in the name of .. ?-? itself, since .. 26 = ?-? which is the letters ? ? - if we spell out the ? it
is: ?? which equals 100. If we spell out the letter ? it is ‘ ?‘ ? - which equals 12.
100+12=112. So in the name of Hashem of Hesed .. ?-? ,there is an allusion to this even
greater level of Hesed. Yaakov Avinu established the Tefilah of Arbit, which we pray at
night. Night represents darkness and lack of clarity, not understanding the kindness of
Hashem. It begins with the 3 Pesukim of ?' ????? ???? and the last 3 words are ????? ????
????? , the ?'? of ??? . We read the ??? at night because we say ?' ????? ?' ??? , that
when it seems as if Hashem is sometimes strict with us ?' - ????? really it is all kindness
?' ??? . After Shema we say ?????? , because even though we don’t understand we
believe.
There are several groups of Jews; ??????, ??????, ?????? there is a group called ,?????
what are they? They are people who go with the letter ' ?. How so? By saying that
whatever happens to them is for the best. What does that have to do with the letter ' ??
The letter ' ? represents Hashem’s kindness, since Alef is comprised of 2 letter Yud’s and
the letter Vav, (the center of an Alef is like the letter Vav, with a Yud above and below
it) which total 26 (10+10+6=26- the ' ??? of Hashem’s name of kindness ... ?-? .) So this
group always attach themselves to the letter ? by saying everything is good and is
coming from Hashem’s kindness. As is hinted to when it says ??? ??? ?????? - Hashem
does Hesed to this group of ????? who go with the letter ?. The first letter of these
words ??? ??? ?????? makes up the word ??? - a stream. This being another allusion to
the lesson Yaakov was giving over to his children, ????? ?? ???? . He gave over to them
the way how to connect the Hesed with the Din, and that is by saying that everything
is for the good, its all from the ?, from Hashem’s kindness. The letters ??? is also the ?'?
of ?????? ?? ????? hinting to how the ????? won the war against the Greeks, by being
part of these ????? and knowing that Hashem was going to give them success in the
war. Rabbi Akivah had this trait from Yaakov as is hinted in his name ????-?'=????? . So
the letter ? represents the kindness of Hashem, and the further we drift from the ? ,the
further away we are from the kindness that it represents. What’s the furthest letter from
the ?? The ?, so the ' ? represents the darkest of times by being the furthest away from
the Hesed of Hashem. Even so, a person must still bring the ' ? to the ' ?, and turn even
the ' ? into Hesed. That is why Rabbi Akivah was the Rabbi who ???? all the ?? ’s in the
Torah, like it says ?? ????? - the word ?? is an ? and ? together. He was showing that
even the ? was connected to the ?, in that even in the most difficult situations, the
kindness of Hashem is present.
During the week our minds are full of distractions, it is hard to "see the ?" and we drift
further and further away from it, as illustrated during the Tefilah when we say ?? ????
???? ???.... the letters get progressively further from the ?. On Shabbat however, when
our minds are clear from the distractions, we reconnect with the ? and realize how
much Hashem loves us and everything is for our good, so we get closer to the ? . As
illustrated in the Shabbat Tefilah ... ???? ??? ???? ??????? where the letters get
progressively closer to the ?. This concept of connecting the ? to the ?, is hinted in the
third mention of the word ????? in the Pasuk by Yaakov, as it says ????? ?? ??? ?? he
gave his sons over ( ????? ), the lesson of ?? that he had. So it was during this time that
Yaakov taught his family the concept of connecting the ? to the ?, to "bring in" the
Hesed of Hashem in the darkest of times, to be a part of the ????? . Thereby connecting
? -?... to ????? and generating an even higher level of Hesed.
There is another place in the Torah that speaks of ?'?) ??? of ??? ??? ?????? ) and that
is by the portion of ???? ????? in ????? chapter ?'? the Pesukim say:
??????? ???? ???? ???? ?? ????? ?? ??? ???? .. .
????? ?? ?? ????? ????..
?? ????? ?????? ????
So in the portion of ???? ????? there are 3 mentions of ??? , representing this lesson of
??? ??? ?????? ,and Hashem caused this to be the last topic that Yaakov taught Yosef,
to fortify him in his upcoming Galut. So by sending the wagons- ????? - Yosef was
actually showing Yaakov how he was able to endure the difficulties and tests of being
away from his family and being in the ????? of Egypt, being thrown in jail etc, and that
was through this lesson of ??? hinted in the parasha of the ????? . When Yaakov saw the
wagons he understood that indeed, his son Yosef was able to stay pure and complete
in his Emunah in Hashem.