Look inside
“People are accustomed to looking at the heavens and wondering what happens there. It would be better if they looked within themselves to see what happens there.” (Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Kotzk)
Reality check
Moses declined God’s assignment to go to Pharaoh and demand that he let the Israelites go. He insisted that he was not qualified since he had a speech impediment. “And Hashem said to him: Who has made man’s mouth or makes him mute or deaf or sighted or blind? Is it not I, Hashem?” (Exodus […]
How a great person thinks
There was once a dispute between a husband and wife about what to name their baby boy. The husband wanted to name the child after his father who had just passed away months before. His wife, however, was opposed to that name. They had a neighbor who had a child with the same name who […]
Sensitivity
“Israel extended his right hand and placed it on Ephraim’s head, though he was younger, and his left hand on Menashe’s head. He maneuvered his hands because Menashe was the firstborn” (Genesis 48:14). When Yosef brought his two sons to be blessed by Jacob, he placed his older son facing Jacob’s right hand and the […]
Humility
A vine has large and small clusters of grapes, and the larger cluster hangs down lower than the smaller. So it is among Israel. The greater the man, the more humble he is. (Midrash Vayikrah Rabbah 36:2)
Know your enemies
“For behold Your enemies, Hashem; for behold Your enemies shall perish…” (Psalm 92:10) The Baal Shem Tov taught that that this can be read as follows: For behold your enemies are Hashem, behold your enemies disappear!” When a person realizes that everything in this world, even his enemies and obstacles are agents of Hashem and […]
For me
“Every person must say: The world was created for me.” (Babylonian Talmud, Tractate Sanhedrin 37) Rebbe Nachman of Breslov writes that if, indeed, the world was created for me, then I need to focus at all times upon the rectification of the world, to fill the lacks of the world, and to pray for the […]
Propelling Prayer
“And Israel said to Joseph…Moreover, I have given to you one portion above your brothers, which I took out of the hand of the Emorite with my sword and with my bow.” (Genesis 48:22) With my sword and with my bow = With my prayer and with my supplication. (Targum Onkelos) Why is the bow […]
The Road to Tranquility
In his blessing to Yissachar, Jacob says: He saw that tranquility was good, and that his land was pleasant, so he bent his shoulder to bear. (Genesis 49:15) Rav Yitzchak of Vorka explained this verse in the following way: “He saw that tranquility was good” – When does a person achieve true tranquility? When he […]
Real Concern?
“And Yosef said to his brothers: I am Yosef. Is my father still alive? And his brothers were not able to answer him for they were shocked at his presence” (Genesis 45:3). Throughout this dramatic episode, Yosef has relatedly asked about his father’s welfare and if he’s still alive (see 43:7). Just prior to revealing […]