a place to put some nice divrei torah i've come across. i hope others can benefit from them as i have.

Parshas Vayechi
Vayevarchem bayom hahu leimor, Yakov gave the shevatim a brachah that they should always see only the current day, and not worry and fear for tomorrow.

Reb Moshe Kobriner, Toras Avos

from Sipurei Ramach - Reb Mordche Chaim Slonim

heard from his father Reb Yehuda Leib z'l:
Someone asked Reb Itzele Koidinover - a talmid of the first Slonimer Rebbe, advice about something. He answered, "if you truly want to be what a Jew should be then the Ribono Shel Olam will give you an eitzah that 60 'gutteh yiddin' (i.e. tzadikim) cannot give you. And this is the eitzah.

Parshas Vayigash

Ve'ata al teatzvu ki lemichyah sheluchani elokim lifnaicham. Yosef told his brother not to be downcast because of what they had done to him by selling him. A great kiddush Hashem will be caused by the Jews leaving Mitzrayim. All the great miracles of the ten plagues and krias yam suf. Ki lemichyah 'sheluchani' elokim, shulchan = table, all the wondrous miracles we recount at the Seder 'table', is a 'michyah', a source of life for all generations. Sheluchani elokim lifnaichem is gematria 'pesach matzah maror'.

Likutei Imrei Chaim

ZemirosShabbos wrote on 13 Dec 2010 19:37:


Rab Avraham ben haRambam:

Ossah hochata l'avdech l'iYitzchok.

How is it possible that Rivka grew up to be a Tzadeikes? She was the daughter of a Rasha, her brother was a rasha, her townsfolk were all reshaim, how did she manage to stay upstanding righteous in their midst?

Reb Avraham answers:
Chazal say Ein adam nokeif etzba'o milmata ella im kein machrizin alav milmaalah. If someone concentrates on everything that hapens to him. Why did Hashem do this to me? What message is He trying to send me? He will have the world's greatest educator! He has Hashem Himself teaching him right from wrong!

Hochachto can be translated as from the word Tochacha = rebuke.

Ossa hochata- she You rebuked & educated for Yitzchok! You groomed her in preparation for Yitzchok!



If we would look out for A&W Moments we will harness Hashem's power for our recovery too!

beautiful! thanks!

Parshas Vayechi

Vayar menucha ki tov v'es haaretz ki na'aimah, menucha is shabbos, haaretz is Eretz Yisrael, through these two we come to 'vayait shichmo lisbol', we can carry the yoke of Heaven.

Lechovitcher Rebbe, Toras Avos

Venishmarta mikol davar ra, mikan shelo yeharhar adam bayom veyavo lidei tumah balailah. Why does the Torah tell us the prohibition of being motzei zera levatala in a roundabout way, venishmarta etc.? why doesn't it say it in a direct fashion, exactly what is assur?
The answer is that a person's primary responsibility is to make safeguards and fences for himself so that he will not come to being mz"l. Guard your eyes from seeing what they shouldn't, stay away from things that trigger you, don't put yourself into a matzav where you will have a nisayon. that is your job, to keep away from things that can cause you to be overcome with taivah. venishmarta, and then you won't have the tumah.

Shemen Rosh, vol. 6, Parshas Vayechi

Parshas Vayechi

וַיָּשָׁב יוֹסֵף מִצְרַיְמָה הוּא וְאֶחָיו וְכָל-הָעֹלִים אִתּוֹ

Rashi says that on the way back from Canaan the Mitzriyim honored Yosef's brothers and let them travel ahead of them as a sign of respect. On the way to Canaan the Mitzriyim went ahead of his brothers and did not show them respect. The reason for this was because in Canaan the Mitzriyim saw the honor accorded to Yosef and his brothers so they accorded them honor as well.

Why did the Canaanites respect the brothers more than the Mitzriyim?

The main reason for the golus is because yidden are downtrodden in their hearts and are not strengthened by the knowledge of their value in Hashem's eyes. If they believed in Hashem's steadfast love for klal yisrael they would be strong and joyful and would not feel downtrodden in their hearts because of their reliance on Hashem. Anyone who would see them, even other nations, would immediately recognize that they are zera bairach Hashem, special and dear in Hashem's eyes, and the nations would not persecute and enslave them because of their unique status.

Hashem told Avraham: כי גר יהי זרעך בארץ לא להם. Meaning that klal yisrael will feel like lowly strangers in their own eyes. That will be the beginning of the exile, with other nations persecuting them and enslaving them. As long as one of the shevatim was alive the decree of exile did not start because the shavatim had the proper attitude and sensed their unique status, with emuna in the special love Hashem has for them.

The Zohar gives a mashal of a king's son who was banished from the palace because of his failings. His father, the king, would send his son food and all his needs through his servants. The son knew and understood that the servants were only emissaries of the king and if he would improve himself he would go back to getting his needs directly from the king.

The same applies to the yidden who came to Mitzrayim. As long as any of the shevatim were alive they had the proper attitude and deep conviction of the unique love Hashem has for klal yisrael and they therefore felt strong and uplifted. But once the shevatim died the yidden lost that fortitude and did not have the conviction of their value. They thought that any sustenance they were receiving was coming from the Mitzriyim and not from their Father/King - Hashem. The Mitzriyim picked up on that and proceeded to dominate them.

The downcast feelings of klal yisrael had another effect. The Jews turned against each other. The slandered each other and denounced their brothers to the authorities. Moshe Rabenu said, "achen noda hadavar", now i see how they came to be enslaved, because of gossip and slander, caused by their skewed self-image.
Even though the shevatim were not subjected to the full degradation and deprivation of the golus, they were included in the gezeirah of "ki ger yiyeh zaracha". Therefore the Mitzriyim did not respect the shevatim as would be fitting according to their status. The Canaanites, who had no such directive of "ki ger yiyeh zaracha" did show respect to the shevatim and when the Mitzriyim saw that they changed their attitude as well.

Rebbe Avraham of Slonim, Baal Yesod Ha'avoda, Toras Avos

גל עיני ואביטה נפלאות מתורתך
"Open my eyes, and I will gaze upon the wonders of Your Torah."
Reb Shlomo of Radomsk (author of Tifferes Shlomo) offered a different interpretation of this verse:
Master of the World, open up my eyes, so that when a fellow Jew is in pain - I will see that a letter has fallen (נפל-אות) from Your Torah.
We are taught that there are 600,000 letters in the Torah, and 600,000 Jewish souls.
A sefer Torah that is missing a letter, or has a crack or marking between two letters, effectively separating them, is rendered unfit for use.
When we see a fellow Jew who is struggling, and getting further away from his or her Source, we are all in peril. The Radomsker was begging for the ability to empathize, to relate to this poor Jew. By doing so, he could hope to elevate his brother and himself.

from loveisthemotive.blogspot.com/2010/10/keeping-it-together.html

Parshas Vayechi

Rashi explains why this is a parsha s'tumah, a 'closed' parsha, lacking the usual space before the beginning of the parsha. Klal yisrael's eyes and hearts were 'closed' and clogged because Yaakov Avinu was niftar. Another reason is because Yaakov wanted to reveal when the Final Redemption would be and his vision became clouded/closed.

Why was Yaakov's wish to reveal the Final Redemption not fulfilled?

The Zohar asks a question on the brqacha that Yaakov gave to Yosef, Hamalach hagoel osi yevarech as hane'arim veyikaray bahem shmee etc. We do not find Yaakov blessing Yosef at all, only his children were blessed (hane'arim). The Zohar answers: the bracha of the children is the bracha of the parents, birchasa dibnoi hen birchasa de'aba. When Yosef's children were blessed it was Yosef who was blessed thereby.

The Gemara relates that HKB"H asked R' Yishmael Kohen Gadol for a bracha, Yishmael bni barcheini. R'Yishmael answered, yehi ratzon shiyichbeshu rachmecha es kaascha veyagoilu rachmecha al midosecha etc., that you act with mercy and kindness towards your children - klal yisrael. Same question here, where is there a bracha for HKB'H in this?

The answer is the same as above. When Klal yisrael receives blessing and kindness then HKB'H (keveyachol) is blessed as well, because "birchasa debnoi hen birchasa de'aba". The opposite is true as well, when Yaakov Avinu was niftar and the eyes and hearts of klal yisrael were closed up and clogged, the Torah was affected as well and became closed/clogged, so to speak. That is our hope, if our tzaros and suffering affect Hashem (kevayachol), then He will surely help us.

Bikesh Yaakov legalos es ha'ketz' venistam mimeno. In this itself the Redemption is alluded to. Because the pegam, the 'blockage' was able to influence Yaakov himself, venistam mimeno, and the Torah was affected as well. When the tzaros of klal yisrael are so overwhelming and reach such proportions that the yeshivos and shuls cannot function and all yidden are afflicted then we can be sure that Hashem will help us.

Aish Kodesh, by Rebbe Klonimus Kalman Shapira zt'l zy'a, from Piasezcna, a collection of the torah he said in the Warsaw Ghetto during WWII

והיה טרם יקראו ואני אענה עוד הם מדברים ואני אשמע

Often when a person davens Hashem send the yeshua even before he started davening
טרם יקראו, and already Hashem answers, ואני אענה

so why does Hashem make it that you daven even though you don't really need it?
why is it that עוד הם מדברים?

the answer is ואני אשמע

Hashem wants to hear the tefila. He wants you to talk to Him. to connect to Him. sometimes that is the reason you had the problem that you're davening about to begin with.

Toras Avos

כל עצמותי תאמרנה ה' מי כמוך.... מציל עני מחזק ממנו

If a person davens with all his strength and concentration, כל עצמותי

then he is zocheh to מציל עני מחזק ממנו

Hashem will save him from the Yetzer Hara which is stronger than him

Toras Avos

Parshas Shemos

והנה הסנה בוער באש והסנה איננו אוכל

Sometimes a person will feel great enthusiasm and fire in davening and learning
והסנה בוער באש

but when it comes time to eat, he gets lost in the food and the previous fire for avodas Hashem is gone,
והסנה איננו

why? where did it go? אוכל
he got lost in his food

ליקוטי אמרי חיים

Happiness

You cannot approach someone who is depressed and say "Be happy". This will not work. Instead, take them for a run, get them moving, doing. Best of all, get them busy doing something for someone else.

And the real cure will be felt when the soul gets moving, when the personality begins its unique journey towards its unique destination.

Rabbi Akiva Tatz, The Thinking Jewish Teenagers Guide to Life