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שבת שלום - פרשת ויצא
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Video Shiur
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Click play to watch the video shiur by Rav Yosef Kaminetsky
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News and Notes
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This past Sunday - Rosh Chodesh Kislev - students of the Yeshiva visited the Dead Sea area. The tiyul consisted of a hike at Ein Gedi, a tour of Masada, and swimming at the Dead Sea.
Congratulations to students Ben Shai, Avi Turk, Aryeh Silverberg, and Yedidya Gorsetman who won Burgers Bar gift certificates for successfully formulating and reciting - from memory - a point by point summary of numerous pages of Gemara by heart.
And welcome to new student Jesse Nagar of Potomac, MD who joined Yeshivat Yesodei HaTorah this week.
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Parsha Insights*
By Rabbi Moshe Lichtman
This week's parashah begins with these words: Yaacov left Be'er Sheva and went towards Charan. He encountered the place (Mt. Moriah - Rashi) and stayed there for the night, because the sun had set. (28:10-11). Rashi, based on the Gemara in Chullin (91b), comments as follows:
The Holy One blessed be He said, "This righteous man came to My hostel and he should leave without lodging?!" [HaShem] uprooted Mt. Moriah and brought it to Beit-El, as the verse states, He encountered the place. And if you should ask, when Yaacov passed by [the site of] the Beit HaMikdash, why did [God] not detain him there? [The answer is], if Yaacov did not consider praying at the place where his forefathers prayed, should God detain him?! [Yaacov] traveled until Charan and when he arrived, he said, "Is it possible that I passed by the place where my forefathers prayed and I did not pray there?!" He resolved to return and traveled until Beit El, where the ground [of Mt. Moriah] leaped towards him.
R. Moshe Tirani, better known as the Mabit, writes in his holy work Beit Elokim:
Yaacov Avinu prayed at this place for the redemption from our final exile. The Egyptian exile and the Jews' subsequent redemption hinged upon Avraham Avinu. The Babylonian exile and their subsequent redemption hinged upon Yitzchak. The present exile and our redemption hinge upon Yaacov. Just as they [his forefathers] prayed for the building of Jerusalem and the Beit HaMikdash, and their prayers were answered during the time of the first two Temples, so too, he wanted to pray for the future rebuilding of Jerusalem and the Beit HaMikdash. Hence, his prayer was close to sunset, which hints to our present, lengthy exile. (Beit Elokim, Sha'ar HaTefillah, chap. 18)
R. Yisachar Shlomo Teichtal, author of Eim HaBanim Semeichah, makes a fascinating inference from this statement:
Thus, everything Yaacov did at this place alludes to the rebuilding of our Holy Land and the Beit HaMikdash. Now, Yaacov Avinu prayed at the end of the day, which alludes to the end of this lengthy exile, when the stage of "in its time" (Yeshayah 60:22) has already arrived. Nonetheless, had he not contemplated returning, HaShem would not have inspired him to do so. God only helped him after he aroused himself to return and actually traveled from Charan back to Beit-El. That is to say, God awaited not only his desire to return but also concrete action. This is why our Sages specifically say, "And he traveled until Beit-El." Even though he had decided to return while still in Charan, he received Heavenly assistance only when he traveled from Charan back to Beit-El, not previously. Only then, the ground leaped towards him. Hence, it is clear that good intentions are insufficient up in heaven. HaShem waits for concrete deeds to accompany our good intentions.
All of this alludes to our era, for we are living at the end of the exile. To simply desire to return to our forefathers' Land, while anticipating a divine awakening, is insufficient. We must resolve to return to our Land and actually begin to return, just as Yaacov Avinu did. Then, we will receive divine assistance, and the Land will come forth to greet us. If, however, we do not act on this matter, but await miracles and wonders, then our hopes are for naught. HaShem is waiting for us to initiate the process, as He waited for Yaacov Avinu a"h. This is the lesson that Yaacov Avinu taught us through his prayer and his return to the site of the Beit HaMikdash. We must learn from him and do the same, for this entire account alludes to our situation at the end of exile." (Eim HaBanim Semeichah, pp. 162-164)
May HaShem grant us the wisdom and wherewithal to transform our inner desire for redemption into concrete actions and thus expedite the coming of Mashiach Tzidkeinu.
*Excerpted from Rabbi Lichtman's most recent book, Eretz Yisrael in the Parashah, published by Devora Publishers.
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