"kach Hee Daka Shel Torah" Parashat Vayishlach - Vayeshev

Parshat Vayeshev - Miketz

Weekly Parsha Commentary by Rav Binyamin Zev Kahane | Translated by Lenny Goldberg | published by Yekutiel Ben Yaakov The Exile Self-Destructs For the "Comfortable" Jew (1994)

The

Egyptian exile which is defined by our sages as the first exile, begins in Parshat Vayigash. Yaakov and sons make "yireda" to Egypt, and from this point onward, the arduous and torturous road from "galut" (exile) to "geula" (redemption) begins. Since the sages tell us that the first redemption from Egypt is a symbol of the final redemption, we will tackle one point concerning the Egyptian exile and derive a crucial lesson for our generation. It is interesting that in every exile a definite pattern develops. Each exile that the Jews encountered began as a result of terrible affliction suffered by the Jews in the Land of Israel. First, it was the suffering of Yaakov and his lost son and the heavy famine prevailing in the Land of Canaan that brought on a departure to the first exile called Egypt. Afterwards, it was the second exile of the dispersion of the ten tribes until the destruction of the first Temple and the massive spilling of blood in Jerusalem. Finally- the last exile which began with the brutal war against the Romans on Jerusalem and culminated in the destruction of the second Temple and the killing of millions of Jews in Jerusalem. What is astonishing is that in all of the above exiles, after a very short period of adaptation, Jews discovered that life in the galut wasn't so bad. All the troubles they experienced in Eretz Yisrael suddenly ended, and they started to thrive and prosper...at least in the beginning. This is exactly what happened in Egypt, and on this point, the great commentator, the "Kli Hayakar" elaborates. On the final verse in our parsha, "And Israel dwelt in the land of Egypt, in the land of Goshen, and THEY GRIPPED ONTO IT, and were fruitful and multiplied exceedingly", the "Kli Hayakar", brings down the following on the phrase "they gripped onto it":

Editor's Note:

"The children of Israel are entirely to blame for this verse. Because the Lord decreed on them that a 'stranger your seed will be' (that is, temporary), and they wanted to be inhabitants (that is, permanent) in a place where it was decreed upon them to be transient ... this verse comes to place blame on this settling in, since they gripped onto a land that wasn't theirs."

Rav Binyamin's words ring as true today as when they were written 13 years ago. One would need to be completely brain dead and blind to ignore global developments that all point to the great potential that the Jew will once again turn into the resident scapegoat. Can anyone ignore the new appeasement policy being ushered in by a congress and senate now dominated by those who seek to replace "the war on terror" with a policy based on befriending Muslim and Arab states, at the expense What happened here? The children of Israel and the Jews, who are being blamed more of Yaakov were forced to go down to and more for Islamic terror. Egypt, and none of them were thrilled about the idea despite the hardships in Canaan, because they knew that Egypt is, after all, the exile. However, in a short time they had a change of heart. Joseph placed at their disposal the land of Goshen, which was the most fertile area of Egypt, and the brothers suddenly began to feel that "it's not as bad as we thought". One can even settle down in peace and tranquility and learn Torah here. What is so bad about it? So they "gripped" and clung to Egypt, and by this very doing so, were automatically rejecting the Holy Land of Israel. This "seizing" or "gripping" of the exile, the settling in and feeling good there, the acquiring of the mentality that "there is life for the Jews in the Diaspora" (a mealy-mouthed word for "galut" or exile), expresses in itself a rejection or "despising of the good land" (a verse in Psalms depicting the ten spies who spoke evil report about the land of Israel and prevented "Aliyah"). In their hearts, and all the more so in the hearts of their offspring, crept in the feeling that it is a good life here in exile and one can build Jerusalem here, and the dream of returning to Zion can wait for the next generation (if at all), but in the meantime, it remains strictly a "dream"... This is the crime of all exiles. Our sages told us long ago about this phenomenon in a midrash on a verse in the "tochacha" of Parshat Ki-Tavo where it is written, "you will find no resting place for the soul of your foot".

Instability in Pakistan, and the weakness of all of the so called moderate Arab states would or should wake the world up to the stupidity of placing one's faith in "moderate" Arab and Islamic regimes. However, logic is not the strong side of frightened people who are looking to vent out their anger, frustrations and worst fears. There is never a more convenient target than the "rich Jew" who controls Hollywood, the economy, the media and whatever, to blame all of the world's ills upon. In the end, the Arab and Islamic masses who are dominated by lunatic and fanatical extremists will continue to set the tone, and the U.S. and Europe will continue to play into their hands, with a readiness to sacrifice Israel as they reach out to placate the "good Arabs". Eventually, Israel will have her back against the wall. Then, even the most left-wing, self-hating Israel will have no choice but to reject international dictates. At such time Israel will be blamed for her intransigence and for all of the "Binladian" style terror that will continue to intensify and to plague America "because of Israel". We already see this happening. Jew hatred is on the rise worldwide. The frightening surge in oil prices will be further fueled by the two emerging giants - China and India - who will continue to pump up the price of oil and will further endanger the global economy. All of the wishful thinkers and their creative manipulations of interest rates and other clever maneuvering in the U.S. have had very short-lived and limited impact on a stock market that is pulling back and suffering mini-crashes in America and around the world. The dollar continues to plummet. You know

MISHALOT YISRAEL | P.O. BOX 6592 JERUSALEM ISRAEL

<<< The Exile Self-Destructs For the "Comfortable" Jew (1994) | continuation

The sages comment, "if they would find a resting place, they would not come back." In other words, if the Jews could stay in galut, they would do so without any intention of returning to Eretz Yisrael, all the while building for themselves all kinds of theories why it is "kosher" to do so. But the gentile never allowed the Jew to remain in the galut. On the contrary, the more that the exile initially seemed to be full of promise, and the more the Jew was able to attain "equal rights" to the gentile, so, too, in direct proportion, was the tragedy of the exile that much more severe. Every exile turned into a bigger graveyard than the one before it. This is exactly what happened to our forefathers in Egypt. The aforementioned "Kli Hayaker" continues: "And they immersed themselves to such an extent that they did not want to leave Egypt, until G-d had to take them out of there with a strong hand. And those who did not want to leave, died in the three days of darkness". The "Kli Hayakar" touches here upon what is mentioned in Parshat "Beshallach", where four-fifths of the children of Israel were wiped out before the departure from Egypt, because they refused to leave. It is a divine decree that the exile, each and every one of them, has no future. This is an iron-clad law in Judaism. For this reason we find that in the poverty stricken lands which the Jews did not or could not "grip onto" as much, their exile was terminated in a more merciful and lenient fashion. This, of course, in contrast to the "lands of the fleshpots", whose ends were woefully tragic. This article was not written to give a history lesson. We are simply coming to say that this particular exile has come to an end. The doors of many exiles have been opened, including those whose doors became symbols like Russia and Syria. Every Jew has now been given the chance to get out. We have reached the final stage in the elimination of the exile. He who refuses to seize the moment and leave quickly will find his fate as those who refused to leave Egypt. Many may think that all this is not relevant for us who live here in Israel. After all, don't we have our own problems here? This is unJewish thinking, for we are guarantors for our brothers in the exile. And despite the fact that we here, too, stand before terrible tragedy, we have a responsibility to our brothers abroad who face, G-d forbid, much greater catastrophe than what will occur in Israel. Ultimately, our destiny is wrapped up in theirs, and we must wake up to this fast, for we are now in the "End of Days" - days in which our prophets warned us can come the way of "Bi-Eta" (in its time), which is the way of awesome suffering and labor pains of redemption, worse than anything we have experienced in exile. And if this is true, how can one sit by quietly?

Help sponsor or distribute "Kach Hee Darka Shel Torah" We are in desperate need of sponsors and always welcome additional distributors in Israel and abroad. We have a demand for approximately 40,000 copies distributed by 700 volunteer distributors worldwide. Due to lack of funds, we usually print only 5000 – 20000. Thus, many branches that seek to distribute hundreds of our parsha newsletter, often receive only a few dozen. CONTRIBUTIONS CAN BE SENT TO "MISHALOT YISRAEL" POBOX 6592 JERUSALEM ISRAEL.

Editor's Note: things are bad when the Israeli shekel is considered strong in comparison to the U.S. dollar. It seems as if it is all coming together from every angle. "Global warming" is not just an issue of climate and atmospheric temperature, it is truly getting hot on all fronts around the globe. Any of these issues, alone, or combined can trigger an explosive rash of anti-Semitism, unprecedented in Jewish history. The problem with Jew hatred and Holocausts, small and large, is that Jews usually wake up too late. Once the fire is torched, and the wind is blowing fast, even the quickest runner can't dash out to safety. The time to come home to Israel is now. We will help you, with God's help. All you need to do is to get on a plane and we will meet you at the airport and set you up until you can file your aliya paperwork. We don't promise you the most perfect rose-garden, but the thorns will be your own thorns that guarantee a future for you and yours. You can study and live on our new hilltop or elsewhere. We will try and help you learn the language and find employment. You can send for more friends and family when you are ready. You can eat with us and live at limited expense until you are fully established. We are not just preaching Aliyah – we are prepared to help you make it an immediate reality. You can study Torah and Hebrew with us on our new hill and help us build the land of Israel and a future for yourself and your family. One thing is for certain: There is no future for the Jew in the Exile! We need you here in Israel and you need to be here NOW! If you are not coming on the next plane, then at least try and help sponsor others, and help us build and expand. Send your generous contribution to 'Mishalot Yisrael' POBox 6592 Jerusalem Israel. If you are coming soon email me at [email protected] or call from US 011 972 544876709 With Love of Israel, Yekutiel Ben Yakov

Weekly Shiur With Yekutiel Ben Yaakov Every Thursday, shiur in Jerusalem (Wednesday in Tel Aviv) with Yekutiel on the parsha of the week, combined with headlines from the perspective of the Jewish Idea. For more info. Call 054 4 876 709

Daily Tanach Study with Lenny Goldberg Monday – Thursday study Tanach with Lenny Goldberg, 10:00 AM, in the tents of Yeshiva Meginei Eretz, on the Tapuach Hilltop. For more info. Call 0544876709 MISHALOT YISRAEL | P.O. BOX 6592 JERUSALEM ISRAEL

News from the perspective of the Jewish Idea (from www.voiceofjudea.com) Israel Scared of Russian Reaction The weekend edition of Israel's Maariv Nov. 15,07 reports that Israeli officials are reluctant to respond favorably to an official request recently made by Ukrainian leaders, requesting that Israel allocate land in Jerusalem for the building of a Ukrainian Orthodox Church. Israel is reportedly concerned about the affect that such a move could have on Israeli Russian relations.

Voice of Judea Commentary: Israel is frightened to allocate land and church-site to the Ukrainians. Hmm. They are not frightened of incurring the wrath of God by bringing more churches in Judaism's holiest city. They are not frightened to upset religious Jews. They are frightened, once again, "what will the goy say?" What else is new?

Israel refuses to demand the release of Pollard According to Yaniv Hallili, a correspondent for Yediot Achronot who recently interviewed Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard and countless U.S. officials, the Americans are no longer obsessed with the further detention of Jonathan Pollard. Hallili insists that the Americans claim that Pollard could have been free long ago but Israel has never yet made any serious attempt to release Pollard, who has already been languishing in an American prison for 22 years.

Voice of Judea Commentary: And then Israeli politicians wonder why Israeli soldiers lack the motivation that they once had.

IMPORTANT WE NEED YOUR HELP

Help sponsor Voice of Judea broadcasts and help us develop our internet productions by making a generous donation now via paypal https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr SPONSOR A WEEKLY PARSHA NEWSLETTER AND HELP US SPREAD THE "AUTHENTIC JEWISH IDEA" THROUGHOUT ISRAEL AND AROUND THE WORLD FOR 3600 DOLLARS, OR BE A PARTNER SPONSOR FOR 1800 DOLLARS OR A PARTIAL SPONSOR OF WHATEVER YOU CAN AFFORD TO DONATE. THE PARSHA COULD BE SPONSORED IN HONOR OF A SIMCHA OR IN TRIBUTE TO THE MEMORY OF A BELOVED ONE. SEND A GENEROUS CONTRIBUTION WITH THE TEXT OF YOUR REQUESTED SONSORSHIP TO "Mishalot Yisrael" POBox 6592 Jerusalem, Israel

Pollard and Ron Arad

New Voice of Judea TV Broadcast Feel the pulse of Israel. What's really happening in Israel? Watch Voice of Judea Weekly TV Internet updates for your uncensored version of the truth behind the news in Israel. Join thousands of viewers around the world who enjoy our weekly internet TV broadcasts live from Jerusalem. The 30 minute show can be viewed every Thursday at 10 PM Israel time 3:00 PM "NY time" on www.kodesh.TV or view the show archived throughout the week on www.voiceofjudea.com Yekutiel Ben Yaakov reports on the week's headline stories in Israel with commentary that you won't hear elsewhere.

MISHALOT YISRAEL | P.O. BOX 6592 JERUSALEM ISRAEL