LIVING WITH MOSHIACH, Parshat Vayeitzei, 5756 B"H LIVING WITH MOSHIACH Weekly Digest About Moshiach PARSHAT VAYEITZEI Kislev 8, 5756 Dec. 1, 1995 * Published Weekly By Lubavitch Shluchim Conferences On The Moshiach Campaign, Committee For The Blind * * * 5756 *********************************************** * TO RECEIVE THIS PUBLICATION VIA INTERNET: * * E-Mail: yys@dorsai.org * * FOR CHABAD-LUBAVITCH IN CYBERSPACE: * * E-Mail: info@chabad.org * *********************************************** THIS PUBLICATION IS DEDICATED TO THE REBBE, RABBI MENACHEM M. SCHNEERSON OF LUBAVITCH "I BELIEVE WITH COMPLETE FAITH IN THE ARRIVAL OF THE MOSHIACH. AND THOUGH HE MAY TARRY, I SHALL WAIT EACH DAY, ANTICIPATING HIS ARRIVAL." Maimonides, Principles of the Faith, No. 12 *********************** * TABLE OF CONTENTS * *********************** Introduction The Weekly Torah Portion The Rebbe's Prophecy Tes Kislev Please Tell Me What the Rebbe Said ****************** * INTRODUCTION * ****************** We are pleased to present, to the visually impaired and the blind, our weekly publication, Living With Moshiach. * In this week's issue, we focus on Tes Kislev, the 9th of Kislev. * Our sincere appreciation to L'Chaim weekly publication, published by the Lubavitch Youth Organization, and to the publishers of Sichos In English, for allowing us to use their material. Also, many thanks to our copy editor, Reb Mordechai Staiman, for his tireless efforts. * It is our fervent hope that our learning about Moshiach and the Redemption will hasten the coming of Moshiach, NOW! Rabbi Yosef Y. Shagalov Administrator Committee for the Blind E-Mail: yys@dorsai.org 20 Cheshvan, 5756 Brooklyn, New York ***************************************** * THE WEEKLY TORAH PORTION * * Adapted from the Works of the Rebbe * ***************************************** PARSHAT VAYEITZEI "And Yaakov (Jacob) left Beer Sheva and went toward Charan," relates this week's Torah portion, Vayeitzei. When darkness fell, Yaakov had traveled as far as Mount Moriah. Placing a stone under his head for a pillow, he lay down and fell asleep. That night G-d revealed himself to Yaakov in a dream. "The land on which you are lying I will give to you and your seed," G-d said, promising Yaakov the land of Israel as the inheritance of the Jewish people forever. To demonstrate just how effortlessly the land would be conquered by Yaakov's descendants, "G-d 'folded' up the entire land of Israel and placed it beneath him, alluding to the ease with which it would be acquired," comments Rashi, the great Torah commentator, citing the explanation given in the Talmud. Generations before, a similar promise was made by G-d to Avraham (Abraham). "Arise, walk through the land in its length and breadth, for I will give it to you." According to the Talmud, this commandment was given to Avraham to facilitate his descendants' subsequent conquest of Israel. Avraham's sojourn through the land demonstrated his Divine claim on the territory and paved the way for his descendants years later. It is interesting to note that whereas Avraham was commanded by G-d to perform an actual physical action ("walk through the land"), Yaakov was not. Lying on the holy ground of Israel was sufficient for G-d to reveal Himself and promise it to his descendants. Furthermore, G-d "'folded' up" the land of Israel beneath Yaakov to emphasize that not only would it be easy for the Jewish people to conquer, as already alluded to Avraham, but its acquisition would require no more exertion than merely lying on the ground. The land of Israel would be given over into their hands without effort, without their having to perform any special feats or extraordinary actions. In effect, G-d granted the Jewish people the ability to conquer the land of Israel without having to wage war. The Jewish claim on Israel was fixed as incontrovertible in the consciousness of all mankind forever and ever, as Divine right. This potential could have been achieved immediately with Joshua's conquest had the Jewish people possessed sufficient merit. Because of the sin of the spies, however, this merit was taken away, and the Jews were forced to fight to acquire what would have otherwise become their possession immediately. When Moshiach comes and ushers in the Final Redemption, this potential will be fully realized. The land of Israel will, at long last, be secured by the Jewish people for eternity, without their having taken the slightest overt action whatsoever. Even now, before the Redemption, may it occur speedily in our days, when Jews stand firm in their Divine claim to the Holy Land, unequivocally and unashamedly declaring their G-d-given right to Israel, all the arguments of the Gentiles against the Jewish people are nullified, and the arrival of Moshiach and the Redemption is thereby hastened. ************************ * THE REBBE'S PROPHECY * ************************ The Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson of Lubavitch, issued a call that "THE TIME OF OUR REDEMPTION HAS ARRIVED!" and "MOSHIACH IS ON HIS WAY!" The Rebbe stressed that he is saying this AS A PROPHECY, and asks us all to prepare ourselves for the Redemption, through increasing acts of goodness and kindness. LET US ALL HEED THE REBBE'S CALL. ********************************************* * IN LOVING MEMORY OF MY DEAR GRANDPARENTS, * * * * Reb Shmuel Pesach Ben Reb Yaakov Dovid * * Passed away on 3 Tishrei, 5755 * * * * Mrs. Fraidel Chedvah Bas Reb Zev Wolf * * Passed away on 4 Adar II, 5755 * * Pais * ********************************************* **************** * TES KISLEV * **************** = 1 = This Shabbat, the 9th of Kislev (Dec. 2), is the birthday and yahrtzeit of Rabbi Dov Ber (1773-1827), the second Rebbe of Chabad-Lubavitch, known as the Mitteler (or "intermediate") Rebbe. The following day, the 10th of Kislev, is the day on which the Mitteler Rebbe was redeemed from imprisonment. The Rebbe explained that the essence of the Mitteler Rebbe is hinted at in his title, as he was an "intermediary" connecting the teachings of his predecessors with those who succeeded him, and connecting the physical with the spiritual. In fact, the union between the physical and the spiritual was reflected in the Mitteler Rebbe's person himself. It was said of the Mitteler Rebbe that if his finger were cut, Chassidus would flow out in place of blood. Blood is the life-force and the Mitteler Rebbe's blood was Chassidus. When the Mitteler Rebbe, at the young age of 53, became very ill, his doctors insisted that he stop teaching Chassidus. However, this only made the Mitteler Rebbe weaker. Late in the evening on the 9th of Kislev, the Mitteler Rebbe fell into unconsciousness a number of times. Each time his family managed to revive him. However, after the last time, he called together his chassidim and, dressed totally in white like an angel, expounded on a deep concept in Torah. He expounded on the verse, "You shall go after G-d" and a few times he asked if the sun had risen yet. Moments before sunrise, he ended his discourse with the words, "For Your nation's source of life is in eternal life" and his pure and holy soul left his body and reunited with its Creator. The Mitteler Rebbe passed away at exactly the age of 54, one day before the first anniversary of his redemption from prison on trumped-up charges that he was aiding the Turkish enemy by sending money to impoverished Jewish families in the Holy Land. = 2 = An interesting anecdote is told about Rabbi Dov Ber as a young boy. Once, when the young Dov Ber returned from cheder, he visited the room where three of his father's chassidim were waiting to be received in a private audience by the Rebbe. The young boy overheard the elder chassidim discussing business. One chassid asked the other two, "Why are you so downcast?" Replied the two chassidim in unison, "Times are bad and business is slow." When Rabbi Dov Ber heard this, he asked cleverly, "Why do you need to ask them the reason for "their sadness" (atzveihem in Hebrew)? Doesn't it say in Psalms, "Atzabeihem--their idols--are silver and gold"? Thus, Rabbi Dov Ber punned, their sadness is from silver and gold. On this subject, it would be worthwhile to quote a few lines from a letter of the Rebbe, to a person who was anxious about his livelihood: "All the difficulties encountered in life are only trials and tests of a passing nature. To be sure, the question of livelihood is one of the most difficult tests--nevertheless, G-d does not subject one to a greater test than he can withstand, as our Rabbis expressed it, 'According to the camel, so is its load.' Trust in G-d is a vessel and channel to receive G-d's blessings, apart from the fact that such confidence is good for one's health, disposition, and therefore is also a natural means to the desired end.... In regard to the saying of our Sages that 'Life is like a turning wheel,' to which my father-in-law remarked that "When a point on the wheel reaches the lowest degree, it is bound to turn upwards again." May all of our wheels be on the upswing, now and forever more. **************************************** * PLEASE TELL ME WHAT THE REBBE SAID * * Weekly Torah Insights For Children, * * Adapted from the Works of the Rebbe * **************************************** PARSHAT VAYEITZEI It had been a wonderful weekend. Shmuli had spent a great deal of time with his cousin Mendy, and they both loved every minute of it. Shmuli lives in Brooklyn. Mendy's family is on shlichus in California. The two cousins had not seen each other for a long time. So when Mendy's father brought him to Crown Heights for the Shluchim Convention, they had a lot to talk about. The Convention was over all too soon. As Shmuli helped Mendy take his bags out to the car, he said: "I'm really sorry you're leaving. It's too bad you don't live right next door to us." "I had a great time here, Shmuli. I'll miss you, but I don't feel sorry, and you shouldn't either," said Mendy. "Don't you wish you didn't live so far away?" asked Shmuli. "Actually, no," replied Mendy. "I feel very lucky to be on shlichus. I'm very proud of all the things my Tatie and Mommy do, and they allow me to help, too. They tell me that I'm a junior shliach. If I lived in Crown Heights, I'd have to wait until I was older before I could go out on shlichus." If Mendy's parents had heard this conversation they would have been just as proud of Mendy as he was of them! He was following the example of Yaakov Avinu (our patriarch), which we read in this week's Torah portion, Vayeitzei. Yaakov left the city of Beer Sheva and traveled to Charan. He left Eretz Yisrael, where his righteous parents Yitzchok and Rivkah lived, and journeyed far away, to a country he had never seen before. He was going to live among people who were very different from him, in a place that did not have the holiness of Eretz Yisrael. Do you think that Yaakov Avinu journeyed to Charan just because he was running away from Esav? Obviously, there's a more important reason! G-d would certainly have protected Yaakov from Esav anywhere in the world. For example, Yaakov spent many years studying in the yeshivah of Shem and Ever, without having to worry about Esav. Yaakov journeyed to Charan because he had a job to carry out, and he was ready to do it. He was willing to move away from his home and to teach people about G-d. He would set a personal example of how a person should live and behave. Yaakov went to Charan on shlichus. Actually, we are all on shlichus. A Jewish neshamah (soul) is pure. It is a part of G-d. What is it doing in this world where G-d is hidden? Our neshamos have a job to perform. We have been sent on shlichus to make this world a dwelling place for G-d, and to prepare it for the coming of Moshiach. ============================================================== = End of Text: Living With Moshiach, Parshat Vayeitzei, 5756 = ==============================================================