PARSHAS TOLDOS:

(27:29) 'cursed be those who curse you, blessed be those who bless you' Rashi points out that Yitschok and bilom spoke the other way round, bilom 1st mentioned the blessing and then the curse. Rashi says, this is because tzadikim start off with suffering and end up with tranquility while resho'im are the other way round (this is perhaps alluded to in the secular/jewish day - we start off with night followed by day, while they are the other way round).

Acting out/recovery is totally the same. The 'rasha' way is pleasure 1st, suffering later, in the short term this means i act out and get pleasure and then im in terrible pain afterwards because of what ive done. The 'tsadik' way is suffering 1st, i dont lust, i dont allow myself that pleasure - its so hard and sometimes very painful, but in the short term and kal vachomer in the long term, ill end up with a life of tranquility because my life isnt ruled by the addiction and im not living a lie.

Let's all be zoiche to live the 'tsadik'way!!

Well said.  In other words, a Rasha is more concerned with having his air conditioner in this world, even if it will mean being without one for eternity!

nice moshul kedusha!(you're very good at them!)

PARSHAS TOLDOS:

'vayizak za'akah, gedoloh ad me'od', 'vayistom eisov es yaakov'. Here is an amazing example of how our resentments can cause SO much damage. Eisov should have said, ok I dont understand why, but clearly Hashem wanted yaakov to get the brochos and not me. I think that perhaps the initial pain and scream are understandable, he was human after all and it was an immense shock and dissapointment.

The point is, he never dealt with the resentment, he piled it up so high and look what suffering it has caused our people through the many centuries since that fateful day.

we need to use our new glasses and think selflessly, otherwise there is no telling how far we will go.

HAFTOROH FOR VAYISHLACH - OVADIAH:

This smallest of the small books of the '12' (trei asar) contains the famous possuk - about yaakov and yosef being fire and flame and consuming eisov - the straw. In vayetsei, rashi points out that yaakov didnt feel ready to meet eisov until yosef was born, only then did he tell lovon to let him go. Rashi quotes this possuk as the reason why - only together could they combat eisov.

I believe a rav yaakov kamenetsky vort is appropriate here. He explains that yaakov needed to go to yeshivas shem and eiver for 14 years to prepare himself for lovon even though he had grown up and learnt all his life from avrohom and yitschok becuase they had holy and pure homes, their torah wasnt enough for an evil home such as lovon. For that he needed people who ahd lived through the dor hamabul and dor haflogoh and still came out pure.

Rav yaakov adds that he gave over this knowledge to yosef (as rashi says in the begining of parshas vayeishev), becuase he somehow knew yosef would also be in exile and would need it.

Yaakov and yosef were therefore the 2 who were most equipt to deal with bad surroundings and still grow and flourish in them. Why only together? i think becasue that way they can back eachother up when times are hard and weak - 2 is immesurably greater than 1.

What message does this hold for us? I think we are combating eisov (western culture, immorality etc) GYE is the our yeshivas shem and eiver, the torah we learnt in the house of the avos (yeshiva) isnt enough for us who have to combat eisov, we need to learn how to flourish in difficult surroundings. and finally, only together can we overcome this - we need to be out of isolation and join together as a team.

Then - be'H 'loi yehiyeh sorid lebais eisov'!

PARSHAS MIKEITZ:

'vayar yaakov ki yesh shever bemitzrayim' Rashi says that yaakov sensed there was hope in mitzrayim (although he didnt see clearly that it would be yosef).

Yaakov knew that even in mitzrayim, the lowest of the low places, there is still hope. So, no matter how dark it seems, there is always hope.

see the following from REB YOSEF HATZADIK SHLITA:

Guys, imagine how the story would have been without Mrs. Potifar.


•Would Yosef have ever reached his ultimate destiny?
•Would he have been the Viceroy in Mitzraim?
•Would Mitzraim (& the rest of the World) have survived the famine?
•Would the Yidden have gone down to Mitzraim?
•Would the Yidden have endured the Golus Mitzraim?
•Would Midas Hayesod have been personified by someone else?
•Would I have chosen the Username Yosef Hatzadik?

CHANUKA:

in parshas noach, noach blesses shem & yefes for covering him up (interesting that this brocho is a result of a tzniusdig action...) 'yaft Elokim leyefes, veyishkon beohalay shem'. Yovon, who were the fathers of western civilisation, got external beauty, we as descendants of shem got the shechina to dwell among us -amazing!

The greeks are all about externalities, physical perfection, we are all about spiritual perfection (progress really). Before chanuka, they tried to corrupt us, to bring us round to their line of thinking, to forget about our work which involves 'veyishkon beohalay shem' fascilatating the shechina dwelling within us, bodies, sport, art etc - that's where it's at(c'v).

Due to the mercy of Hashem, we were saved, they didn't manage to pervet us, we remained intact - holy & pure and got rid of them. That is what we are celebrating on chanuka - the fact that we remained holy & pure and weren't perverted away from Hashem and his torah.

(you all know whewre im going withthis ...)Today we have our own yevanim, it is the western culture legacy which they left behind and once more they are trying lehaviram mechukey retsoinecho and lehashgicham mitorasecho May we be zoche to internalise this chanuka, the reason behind our  celebrating and be given the strength & the courage to realise which side we are really on!

CHIZUK FROM CHANUKA:

The miracle of the oil, was that there was only a little bit of untainted, pure oil left - only enough for 1 day, but Hashem made it last for 8 days.

Sometimes, we dont have a lot of strength in us, we feel we can only remain clean for a short while, we dont have it in us for the long haul. If we dedicate our short time clean to Hashem and say, 'this is as much as I can do, please keep me clean', He is surely able to repeat the miracle and give us the ability to remain clean for much longer!

shkoyachy mouse
they clearly needed the hishtadlus of looking for the oil and fighting the war combined with Hashem's help

MAOZ TZUR: The modern-GYE version;

yevonim nikbetzu olai - western culture gathers against us
azai bimey chashmanim - (like) in the days of the chashmonayim
uphortzu chomos migdolai - and they have broken through all of our fences and barriers
vetimu kol hashmanim - and they have destroyed our 'oil-like' ability to be separate and different from the nations
uminosar kankanim - but from the small remnant vessels
na'asoh neis lashoshanim - there was a miracle for the nation compared to a rose
bnei binoh - men of great wisdom - ie rabbeinu guard and his super team of moderators
yemei shmoino kovu shir urenonim - set up a place which is filled with light (like 8 days of chanuka) and lema'aloh min hateva (like 8 days = bris) and once more there can be song and rejoicing!

GEVALDIG!!!

& this will bring the next stanza:
Chasof zeroa kodshecha v'kareiv ketz haGeulah!!!

Thanks reb yosef - you're very good at continuing my divrei torah!
Have u been having kavonoh in ya'aleh veyavoi & vezechezenoh?

DAVENING: (end of shmoineh esrei)

'velimekalkelai nafshi sidom, venafshi keofor lakol tihiyeh; psach libi besoirosecho, veacharey mitsvoisecho tirdoif nafshi' 'to those who curse me, my soul should be silent and my soul should be like dust to everyone;open my heart with Your torah, and after your mitsovs, my soul should run'.

It seems clear from here, that chazal saw the order that rabbeinu dov has been telling us all along. We must not harbour resentments and act on them, we must be humble and put others 1st, only then can we ask Hashem to give us torah and mitsvos, only then will our hearts be able & willing to pursue it with the desire it desrves!

an honest mouse wrote on 07 Dec 2010 22:44:


Do I have to answer in public?  :-[

sorry reb yosef, you dont have to answer in public...

PARSHAS VAYIGASH (sorry its so late):

'ki nivhalu mipanav' the brothers were too embarrased to answer yosef, they couldnt even speak when they found out it was him. R' chaim shmulevitz, in sichos mussar, says that its not p'shat they did the wrong thing and got caught, thats not what was going on here.

They thought they did the right thing with yosef, they thought they had the correct p'sak and when they suddenly realised that his dreams were true after all - they got the biggest shock because their whole mehalech was wrong. They thought they were being oved Hashem but they werent and that was the big shock.

Chazal say oy leyom hamisa, if the brothers were so shocked in front of yosef, a human being, whats gonna be with us in front of the bais din shel maloh. lets take r' chaim's pshat and apply it here. Hashem wants our relationship, not our frumkeits. we must be careful to be working to live each day with Hashem and not just with judaism. As r' shlomo (of the late night 12 step call) says. 'A religious person is one who knows what to do - a spiritual person is one knows who he's doing it for.'

Let's make sure we dont separate Hashem from our yiddishkeit, then our life avoidah wont be way off and then we can avoid the great shock.

PARSHAS VAYIGASH (sorry its so late part 2):

'kamoh yemei sh'nei chayecho' Pharoh asked Yaakov avinu - how many are the days of the years of your life. Rav shimshon raphoel hirsch says that pharoh understood the importance of each individual day. He was therefore asking yaakov, how have you utilised each day? how many days really counted, to which yaakov, in his anivus answered, little and nothing compared to my forefathers. ( i know this doesnt fit with the chazal about yaakov losing 33 years of his life coz he shouldnt have complained but rav sr'h knew a lot more than i do!).

we can apply that here. Each day counts, that means if i messed up yesterday - so what? today is a new day and conversely if yesterday was great, that doesnt mean today is gonna be good as well - in other words, each day has its own unique potential and thats the way we should live life as well as recovery - ONE DAY AT A TIME!! 

an honest mouse wrote on 07 Dec 2010 22:44:


I am mekayem the Mishna Hevvai zanav l'aroyos (The Kingly kind!) v'lo rosh l'shu'alim.

You are on the wrong side maybe?  :-\