Personal and life sustaining forces

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I recall being a guest  for a Shabbat meal and noticed a beautiful arrangement of flowers on the table. I complemented my host on their beauty to which she replied that they were artificial, plastic flowers. They were indeed lovely but lifeless and I asked her why she didn't have live flowers. She replied , "live flowers must be watered every day and that is somewhat tedious".

Indeed at that moment I realized  a very basic truism.Anything worthwhile in life needs to be nurtured and watered constantly to keep it alive and vibrant . Life lived to its fullest requires attention and personal involvement, patience and care.

Our Parsha this Shabbate  relates a dialogue between Hashem and Moshe. G-D tells Moshe to go to Pharoah and tell him to release the Jewish People from bondage.Hashem then tells Moshe that  

Pharoah will ask you תנו לכם מופת,"to show a sign for you".  I find the language of this request very confusing. If Pharoah wants a sign to prove that G-D sent him , then the request should of been show Me a sign , but the words he used was "show a sign to YOU". This is a very curious  request.

I sense that our answer can be found in the אזנים לתורה wherein he says, שאתם בעצמכם אינכם מאמנים במי ששלח אתכם אלי, suggesting thay Pharoah will only be impressed if Moshe and Aaron are impressed themselves by the power of the Almighty. 

How amazing is this idea:the only way Moshe and for a Jewish person in general to have influence over a Pharoah , or over any person of importance, is for a Moshe to be impressed by his own words and by his own deeds , then and only then can he influence others .

The message is so cogent. Judaism needs enthusiasm and a personal sense of pride to evidence to the world the beauty and it's relevancy to our modern world.We need  to first offer the sign of Yiddishkeit to ourselves with all it's magnificence and then and only then will it be contagious to others and influence them to become part of our wonderful Judaic way of life.

Let us start now and show our pride and our dedication to all that Judaism has to offer us and let us do so with tolerance and with empathy. This will indeed herald our glorious Messianic time.

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Who will answer for tomorrow?

The more deeply you understand other people the more you will appreciate them, the more reverent you will feel about them. To touch the soul of another human being is to see the other in the most positive and understanding way.

This weeks Parsha Va'yeche continues the dialogue between Yosef and his father Yaakov.

There is much to say about the personality of Yosef and how he conducted himself with his brothers, with Paroah and especially with his beloved father. I am particularly interested in how, after all  is said and done, did our Torah portray Yosef?

 The  Rav , Rabbi Soloveitchik tz'l suggests that Yosef's first dream involved stalks of wheat,reflecting upon his practical vision , his pragmatic outlook to life's needs.Then came the second dream ,of stars in the heavens, reflecting upon the spiritual and the metaphysical aspect of man's existence .

Here was Yosef, a man who possessed pragmatism and at all times looking towards the stars in heaven projecting a feeling of limitless goals that he could achieve to ensure the betterment of mankind.

This is our meaningful lesson of our day: we are to be pragmatic in our decision making process and at the same time to be a visionary and a dreamer for a more productive tomorrow.

Please share with me your thoughts or you can email:danmim@aol.com

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Preparing my new blog which will include many ideas and stories of Torah and living experiences. I hope it will be well received please confirm your desire to follow my blog 

Rabbi Mehlman