5-Bullet Friday: Parshas Vayechi

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5-Bullet Friday

This week is Parshas Vayechi! Check out this week's d'var torah here.

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Here is this week's 5-Bullet Friday:

• Question I'm pondering (on the parsha): What was so convincing? The passukim and Rashi relate (50:15-21) that after Yaakov passed away, Yosef’s brothers noticed that his attitude towards them started changing. Out of concern they approached Yosef asking forgiveness. Yosef replies “Don’t be afraid. Am I instead of Hashem?” As Rashi explains, Yosef told them that even if he wanted to harm them he would be unable if it is not Hashem’s will just as they tried to harm him but were unsuccessful. The passukim continue recording Yosef’s speech to them and then the Torah comments, “And he comforted them and spoke to their hearts.” Rashi writes two potential strong arguments that Yosef said to convince them: 1. Before the brothers came down to Mitzrayim, the mitzriyim were spreading rumors that Yosef was a mere slave who was really unfit for royalty. However when the brothers came down, the people saw he had come from a free (and royal) family and they respected him. Yosef therefore reasoned with his brothers that it would be unwise of him to hurt his brothers who helped glorify Yosef (from the mitzriyim’s perspective), as they would then question if Yosef was actually from that family because how could it be that a brother would kill his brothers. 2. Alternatively, Rashi brings, Yosef argued that if ten candles could not extinguish one candle (i.e- the brothers were unable to kill Yosef) then how could one candle possibly extinguish one. The question though is: When reading the passukim it seems that Yosef’s original speech arguing that ‘Hashem runs the world so how could he try to do harm to the brothers,’ was not sufficient as they were not comforted until the final argument(s) that Yosef made. What did the later point(s) add that he had not already communicated? 

• Concept I am considering: Careful what you wish for. The mishna in Peah (8:9) states that people who do not need tzedaka but take from tzedaka...and those who feign to be blind or crippled...etc. will not die until they “become what they pretended to be”. This idea that the punishment fits the crime or that we are judged middah k’negged middah is one that ought to be reflected on. Perhaps another term for irony is “you got what you asked for”.

• Hashkafic idea I'm reflecting on: Royalty deals with royalty. The whole story of Yosef and the fact that he ended up as second to Pharoh in Mitzrayim was certainly miraculous and definitely not to have been expected per se under the natural order of the world. However, as we know from the Torah, we are the am-ha’nivchar and there is a sense of true royalty to those who hold onto the Torah. The keser Torah is available for anyone who is wanting and willing and that is the capstone of not just being born into the royal lineage but actually adhering to its mesorah and becoming a part of it. There is an old joke that the prime minister of Israel called up the president of the United States and was complaining how difficult it was being the prime minister. The president of the United States said, “What are you complaining about? You are the leader of less than 10 million people while I have to govern over 300 million people!” The Israel prime minister quickly responded, “That may be true that you are president over 300 million people, but I am president over 10 million presidents.” We must think of ourselves as royalty and act as such - not in an unhealthy egotistic way nor in a ‘privileged’ manner, but rather in behaving appropriately and bearing the responsibility of representing the ultimate royalty of which we are all a part. Think about it: The balance of gaivah and self-worth are not contradictory. On the one hand we are charged to remove all haughty feelings from our thoughts, on the other though we are responsible to not forget the morals, values, and realities that we represent and that others are watching us as royalty in this regard to be mentors for the world. What are some things that we do in our day to day lives that we could perhaps alter based on the humbling mentality that we must behave as royalty?

• Middah on my mind: Anivus (humility); Act vs Act-ually. Among many mussar seforim, the message of running away from gaivah and instead practicing anivus is one that is not just mentioned often, but is even often mentioned first. I saw brought down in the dirshu commentary to the Orchos Chaim of the Rosh that there are two types of humble people. Some people act humble because they recognize that it is not good to be haughty. In other words, they know themselves that they are extremely smart and better than their peers, but they don’t chase after honor because it is forbidden. However, there are others who are actually humble in that they recognize that they are far from accomplishing what there is to accomplish and that there is plenty of room for personal improvement. This latter form of anivus is the one that the Orchos Chaim of the Rosh is advocating that people should work towards.

• Part of Tefillah I'm concentrating on: Ha'malach ha'goel. This was Yaakov’s tefillah for Ephraim and Menashe essentially on his deathbed. One of the many lessons that this tefillah relates is the pivotal aspect of mesorah. The tefillah wishes blessings upon the future, through an attachment with the present, with the zechuyos of the past. “May the angel who redeems me from all evil bless the youths, and may they be called by my name and the name of my fathers, Avraham and Yitzchak, and may they multiply abundantly like fish, in the midst of the land.”

What's on your mind? 

Have a wonderful Shabbos!

P.S:

• Completely random thought I'm thinking about: Inverted-U Model. Also known as Yerkes-Dodson Law, the Inverted-U is a model which demonstrates the balance of pressure and performance. According to the model, peak performance is achieved when people experience a moderate level of pressure. Where one experiences too much or too little pressure, one’s performance declines, sometimes severely, with one either entering a state of boredom (under-challenged, on the left side of the inverted-U) or state of high stress and anxiety (over-challenged, on the right side of the inverted-U). The middle of the graph depicts when one is working at peak effectiveness. This is when one is sufficiently motivated to work hard, but is not so overloaded that he or she is over-struggling. There are a number of influencers that impact how we operate under various scenarios. There are internal factors such as personal skill levels, personality, and anxiety; as well as external factors such as time, environment, and task complexity. Challenge: Think about your performance levels during the day when you are doing various things – whether working, learning, or working out, aim to be at peak performance. Log times when you are feeling over stressed or underutilized and the activity that you were engaged in at the time. Keeping track could help us better understand ourselves and what we are truly capable of doing.

Have comments or thoughts on this week's bullets? Have other random thoughts on your mind? Send an email to torahparallels@gmail.com. Thank you!