{"id":211,"date":"2013-11-07T02:09:34","date_gmt":"2013-11-07T02:09:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/marcmangel.net\/?page_id=211"},"modified":"2013-11-07T02:09:34","modified_gmt":"2013-11-07T02:09:34","slug":"vayechi-5770-2009","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/marcmangel.net\/?page_id=211","title":{"rendered":"Vayechi 5770 (2009)"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Drash for Vayechi 5770<\/strong><\/p>\n

by Marc Mangel<\/p>\n

The last Lubavitcher Rebbe wrote that \u201cThe Torah is eternal. It is addressed to every Jew and therefore what it relates involves every Jew\u201d. Thus, the Torah has a message for us on this, the day after the secular new year, when we make resolutions about our lives.<\/p>\n

In Ch 50, v 19, Joseph says \u201cDo not be afraid, for am I in place of God?\u201d<\/p>\n

We have heard Joseph\u2019s comment \u201cfor am I place of God?\u201d once before \u2013 when Rachel was barren and complained to Jacob, who said exactly the same thing.<\/p>\n

The commentators condemn Jacob\u2019s use of this phrase, and praise Joseph\u2019s use. Nechama Leibowitz points out that \u201cJacob had shirked responsibility in these words, rejecting his wife\u2019s Rachel\u2019s request to pray for her in time of trouble and share in her distress, on grounds of man\u2019s incompetence and limitations in the manners concerned\u2026Joseph, on the other hand, uttered this expression of inadequacy and self-abasement in order to save his brother\u2019s feelings and reassure them. It was not for him to judge them; the judgement was God\u2019s\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was not his to judge them; the judgement was God\u2019s\u201d.<\/p>\n

About this verse, the Isbister (Rabbi Moderchai Yosef of Isbitza) wrote \u201cTherefore one must always pray before the blessed God that it should never enter his mind to judge another as guilty, and also that his fellow man should not judge him as guilty\u201d.<\/p>\n

And about this verse, in Shney Luchot HaBrit the Shalach writes \u201cThe main ingredient of Chesed is that it is to be performed without expectation of a reward.\u00a0 Only when performed thus is one called generous; otherwise one is simply a trader.\u00a0 There is no greater virtue than that of Chesed. That is why a person must train himself to practice this virtue until it becomes second nature\u201d.<\/p>\n

We cannot direct other people\u2019s thoughts, but we can direct our own.\u00a0 So, I offer to all of us a New Year\u2019s resolution \u2013 and one that is tough to keep:\u00a0 \u201cLet us all work so that it never enters our mind to judge another\u201d.\u00a0 Not as trading, but as it should be \u2013 as developing our quality of chesed.<\/p>\n

Shabbat shalom.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Drash for Vayechi 5770 by Marc Mangel The last Lubavitcher Rebbe wrote that \u201cThe Torah is eternal. It is addressed to every Jew and therefore what it relates involves every Jew\u201d. Thus, the Torah has a message for us on this, the day after the secular new year, when we make resolutions about our … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":53,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"full-width-page.php","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-211","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/marcmangel.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/211","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/marcmangel.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/marcmangel.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marcmangel.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marcmangel.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=211"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/marcmangel.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/211\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":212,"href":"https:\/\/marcmangel.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/211\/revisions\/212"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marcmangel.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/53"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/marcmangel.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=211"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}