Hanna's Dvar Torah

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How do you choose a gift for a loved one? Getting the perfect gift for them is not easy at all. We need to think about something that the receiver will enjoy and utilize. There is no point in giving expensive chocolates to someone who has diabetes…

In this week’s Parasha Vayigash, Joseph, now viceroy of Egypt, reveals his identity to his brothers. After 22 years of painful separation, with Jacob thinking that his son is dead, Joseph tells his brother to hurry to his father, give him the good news and bring him to Egypt to be reunited. Joseph sends with the brothers gifts for Jacob. Our Sages have different opinions as to the nature of these gifts. Some say that he sent aged wine, others say that he sent split peas. Why would Joseph send such strange gifts?

Joseph did not simply send foods, he wanted to transmit a message.

Joseph knew that the news that he is still alive would not bring only joy to his father, because he would suddenly understand what his children, Jacob’s brothers, had done to him in the past. Even if he did not discover all the details, just hearing the news would awaken the pain. Joseph was trying to ease the anguish of his father by sending the split peas. These were a traditional Egyptian dish, which was made of crushed beans. It was symbolic: the tremendous agony that they had to go through was finally what brought Joseph to the position of viceroy, giving him the possibility to feed his family in the years of famine. The difficulties turned into something good.

In addition, during the 22 years that Jacob mourned for Joseph, none of them drank wine, which gladdens the heart of man. Joseph sent his father aged wine to give him the message that he never lost his hope to be reunited. This is why he kept away the wine for the joyous day of their reunion.

Our lives are not always easy. Let us internalize the messages of the split peas and the aged wine. Let us remember that the difficulties are for our good and let us not lose hope! Those difficulties will pass.

Very soon, G-d will bring us Mashiach and pain and troubles will disappear from the world.

Shabbat Shalom,

Hanna

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In this week’s Parasha Miketz, Pharaoh makes two strange dreams.

In the first dream, Pharaoh sees seven fat good-looking cows grazing in the Nile. Then, seven lean cows arrive and after a while, they swallow the fat cows, but nevertheless stay lean!

The second dream was similar to the first one, but it had earls of grain instead of cows. A group of seven fat earls of grain and a group of seven lean earls of grain grow near each other, and the lean ones swallow the fat ones, nevertheless staying thin!

Pharaoh’s advisors could not give him a satisfactory interpretation. In his anguish, Pharaoh orders to bring Joseph from the prison to interpret his dreams. Joseph’s interpretation is simple. Egypt would go through seven years of plenty, which will be followed by seven years of such terrible famine the years of abundance will be forgotten. Joseph concludes that the Egyptians need to take advantage of the years of abundance and store food for the years of hunger.

We also have in our lives, cycles of “hunger” and abundance. There are periods where everything goes well: we are healthy, successful and our bank account is full. Sometimes, in good periods, we forget to invest time and energy in cultivating our relationships with our spouse, our friends and develop a deep connection with G-d.

But then, when the times of “hunger” and of various difficulties come, and we suddenly feel the need for help, we may not know how to communicate it. If we do not cultivate our relationships in the times of abundance, we may not have the tools that will help us go through the difficult times…

The secret is during the times of abundance to have in mind the times of “hunger”. Keeping the right set of priorities and investing in what is really important, such as the relationships with our loved ones and our connection to G-d, is what will help us go though the difficult times when they come.

Shabbat Shalom,

Hanna 

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This week’s Parasha Vayeshev tells about the children of Jacob who were jealous of their brother Joseph. They hated him so much that once, when they were in the pasture, they decided to kill him. But Reuven, the firstborn, stopped them and proposed to throw him in a pit instead, having in mind to come later to save him. But until Reuven came back, the brothers had taken out Joseph from the pit and sold him as a slave to itinerant merchants. Joseph ended up in Egypt, and later brought the rest of the family there, thus setting the stage for the story of Pesach to unfold.

The Torah describes Joseph’s pit as “an empty pit where there was no water”. This sounds harmless, doesn’t it?  But, as we know, the Torah never uses words without a purpose. Why did the Torah have to precise that there was no water? It is self-understood. Our Sages explain that the Torah hints here that there is no such a thing as an empty pit. If it had no water, it means that it had inside snakes and scorpions…

This rule applies to us as well. Our mind is always busy, it is never empty. If it is not busy with positive matters, it is necessarily busy with nonsense and less positive matters… We need to fill it up with water, symbolizing Torah.

This rule works the other way around as well. When a negative thought sneaks into our mind and does not want to leave, we need not fight it. It is better to study some Torah, to occupy our mind with something positive. In this way, the negative thoughts will leave on their own.

This is also connected to the holiday of Chanukah which is starting today. How can we chase away the darkness? We do not need to fight it. It is enough to open the light.

Let us always occupy our thoughts with positive matters. Let us study some Torah, let us think of whom we can help and how. When our mind with will full and bright, darkness will not be able to enter.

Shabbat Shalom and Happy Chanukah!

Hanna