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Who would you choose as the director of a new school? Someone from the town or a new immigrant?
When he came to Egypt, Jacob wanted to establish a Yeshiva. Instead of asking Joseph, who already had an established situation in the government, to take care of it, Jacob asked Yehuda, who had just recently arrived to Egypt and did not even know the language. Why?
The answer has to do with the significant difference between Joseph and his brothers. His brothers, following in the steps of their forefathers, were shepherds. This is a quiet, secluded and peaceful occupation, where you have time to meditate about spiritual matters. On the contrary, Joseph was the viceroy, he was not at all secluded but was constantly involved with the world. Yet, he still stayed faithful to G-d and continued to study the Torah and fulfill the Mitsvot.
Most of us ressemble Joseph. We have jobs which require us to be involved with the world. Yet, we need to constantly remember who we are. How can we achieve it? With the help and inspiration from our forefathers and from Joseph.
At the beginning of our life, in the days of school and Jewish education - but also later in life at the beginning of each day - we need to dedicate spiritual time to prayer and Torah study.
This is also the reason why Judah was the one who established the Yeshiva. Because it’s not easy for someone to manage to be like Joseph, to be involved in the world and stay faithful. Judah teaches us with his example that we first have to be completely and exclusively involved in spirituality.
Let us also dedicate a couple of minutes every morning exclusively to spirituality. With a prayer, a little Torah study (check out the wonderful articles of chabad.gr in greek and english), we’ll also have the power to stay faithful even though we are involved with not that spiritual occupations during the rest of our day.
Shabbat Shalom,
Hanna
